(Edited press release)

Officials from the Kentucky’s Office of the State Veterinarian announced Thursday (March 9) that they have removed restrictions on horses originating from Chevation II, a barn at Fair Hills Training Center in Maryland that had logged cases of equine herpesvirus-1. All horses in that barn have tested negative for EHV-1 using nested polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays on both whole blood buffy coat and nasal swabs. This diagnostic testing, supported with a clean veterinary assessment and no clinical evidence of disease in this group of animals for more than 21 days, provides evidence that the group is free of active EHV-1 infection.

On March 8, the Maryland Jockey Club announced that it had released the last of its EHV-1 hold orders that had been in place at Pimlico and Laurel Park.

Kentucky’s position regarding the entry of horses into Kentucky from Pimlico or Laurel Park has not changed. Rusty Ford, staff assistant for the Kentucky state veterinarian’s office, said, “Though no new disease has been reported, we continue to be of the opinion that the potential for the virus to have spread from the affected barns did exist as late as one week ago, thus providing the opportunity for incubating animals to have moved from the affected barns. With this knowledge, we have determined the risk of reintroducing active EHV-1 infections to our racing and breeding populations remains unacceptable if we allow horses from Pimlico or Laurel entry into Kentucky at this time