Horse Shows Close Down Due To Equine Virus, page 1

The Equine Herpes 1 Virus has mutated to attack the horse's neurological system. This is a big deal for the country because all shows are cancelled everywhere, not just in the areas the virus has appeared. There is no vaccine or cure for this mutated virus. I live in Walking Horse Country. Horse shows are big money here. Another blow to our already fragile economy we didn't need.

Horse Shows Close Down Due to Equine Virus

Brooks is also a director of the National Cutting Horse Association. She is well aware how fast the Herpes Virus-1 can spread. The outbreak has been traced to a cutting horse show in Ogden, Utah. It has since spread to five western states. "The National Cutting Horse Association has been proactive in trying to shut this down," said Brooks

"How it starts, that's a good question. We don't really know that. All of a sudden it just blows up," said Wooten. Even more frightening is that an owner may not even know their horse has it right away. "'Oh well, they just have a respiratory thing,' and all of a sudden 12 days later, you start seeing horses with a neurological problem," said Wooten The new strain has mutated to attack the horses' nervous system. For now, Wooten thinks the best defense against the disease from spreading is to stop shows and events.