11/20/2025
📢 Important Update for Our Equine Community
To all of our valued clients and horse-owners in the region: we at Martin Veterinary Services feel a strong responsibility to share with you our concerns regarding the emerging outbreak of Equine Herpesvirus 1 (EHV‑1) and our professional recommendations for how we can all respond together.
What’s happening
• A strain of EHV-1 including the neurologic form known as Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM) has been confirmed in multiple states following recent large equine events.
• This virus is highly contagious among horses; it can spread through direct contact, aerosolized droplets, and contaminated equipment or clothing.
• While humans do not become ill from EHV-1, they can inadvertently spread it between horses via hands, clothing, boots, and tack.
• Some affected horses have shown neurological signs (such as hind-limb weakness, stumbling, tail-tone loss), respiratory signs (fever, nasal discharge, cough), or abortion in pregnant mares.
Our stance as your veterinary partners
We believe that in light of this outbreak, the best path forward is one of vigilance, proactivity, and collaboration. We want every horse owner to have clarity on how to act so we can work together to minimize risk and protect our equine athletes, stock, and family-horses.
What we strongly recommend right now
History review & movement awareness
If your horse attended a show, rodeo, jackpot, or any equine event away from your property or was transported recently for competition or boarding, especially any event in the last 21 days, please assume a heightened risk of exposure.
Limit movement of those animals: do not haul them to additional events or mix them with unexposed groups until cleared by us or following quarantine guidelines.
Isolation & monitoring
Isolate recently traveled or exposed horses for 21 days, monitoring them separately from your general herd.
Check and record re**al temperature twice daily, morning and evening. A reading ≥ 101.5 °F is a red flag.
Be alert for these additional signs: nasal discharge, cough, lethargy, incoordination, stumbling, urinary incontinence, tail tone loss. If any of these symptoms appear, contact us immediately.
Biosecurity protocols
Use dedicated equipment for isolated or exposed horses: halters, grooming tools, buckets, water hoses. Do not share with other groups until appropriately cleaned.
Clean and disinfect stalls, cross-ties, trailers, tack rooms, grooming areas, and high-touch surfaces with virucidal agents.
When working with isolated or high-risk horses, perform those chores after working with your healthy herd; wear coveralls or boots you can clean or change afterward.
Communication and transparency
Inform any facility, show organizer, trainer, or boarding barn if your horse has potential exposure. Prompt disclosure helps protect the larger community.
Maintain records of attendance, transport, stalls used, and barns visited in the event contact-tracing should become necessary.
Vaccination & veterinary consultation
While vaccination does not guarantee prevention of EHM, it remains an important tool in respiratory EHV control; let’s review your horse’s vaccination status together.
If you have pregnant mares, young foals, or high-performance horses, consult with us about tailored risk-mitigation plans and whether enhanced monitoring is warranted.
What we’re doing at MVS
• We are heightening our internal biosecurity practices at the clinic—separate exam areas for symptomatic horses, decontamination between patients, and staff training in EHV-safe protocols.
• We are standing by to support our clients with isolation plans, temperature logs, on-call consultation for suspected cases, and rapid sample submission if needed.
• We will remain closely monitoring updates from the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC), state veterinary authorities, and industry alerts; we’ll pass along pertinent information as soon as it is available.
Our ask of you
Please treat this matter with the urgency it deserves. Delays in recognition, lax biosecurity, or undisclosed movement can turn a manageable situation into a serious outbreak. By acting together now, we give our horses their best chance at staying healthy and our operations their best chance at continuity.
If you have any questions about biosecurity measures, exposure risk, or monitoring protocols, please call us. We are here for you, your horses, and our broader equine community.
Stay safe and vigilant,
The Martin Veterinary Services Team
