A free seminar for horse owners and industry leaders about the latest on EPM, West Nile, and Foot and Mouth Disease will be presented Friday, April 27, 2001 at the Kentucky Horse Park Visitor’s Information Center from 5-7 pm. The seminar will coincide with the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event. Featured speakers include Dr. Bill Saville of The Ohio State University, and Dr. Peter Timoney of the Gluck Equine Research Center. Fact sheets and handouts will be available. Seating is limited!

More on the topics that will be covered:

Foot and Mouth Disease

While this disease doesn’t cause illness in horses, the equine industry is suffering world-wide because of the inability to move horses within the European Union and among overseas countries for competition and sale. The potential for spreading the disease due to the movement of horses, humans, and vehicles is very high. Foot and mouth devastates the agricultural economy, and thus the overall economy, of any country unfortunate enough to have an outbreak. The United States has been free of this disease since 1929, but has allowed importation of animals from foot and mouth endemic countries under strict guidelines in the ensuing years. The last major outbreak of foot and mouth was in Europe in the late 1960s. See more on Foot and Mouth Disease.

West Nile Virus

This is a deadly disease that affects horses, humans, and other animals. While this disease appears with regularity in other parts of the world, the first case of West Nile occurred in the United States in 1999. Since that first deadly visit in New York, the virus has spread as far south as North Carolina and as far west as Pennsylvania. It is predicted to appear in Ohio this year, and possibly in Kentucky by next year. An international conference on human and animal West Nile disease was held in Washington, D.C., in early April, and information from that gathering will be included at this seminar. For more on West Nile Virus, visit our West Nile Virus article library