The Horse continues to discuss equine herpesvirus type-1 (EHV-1) with scientists who have been researching the disease. Klaus Osterrieder, DVM, DVM Habilitation (German equivalent to a PhD), is associate professor of virology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. He shared his views on the current situation with EHV-1.

Q. What would you like horse owners to understand and what do you think the horse owning population needs to know about herpesvirus in general and neurologic herpesvirus?

A. The first and foremost thing to understand is that herpesvirus infections don’t go away. Once infected, horses are constantly at risk for reactivation and spreading the disease. This does not mean that we have to be concerned all the time, but one has to realize that infection cannot be prevented; we have to work out strategies to keep reactivations at a minimum and–when they happen–keep the infection and spread of the disease in check