'I can’t even tell you how devastating it was': Equine herpes kills several horses at Wellington County farm
'I can’t even tell you how devastating it was': Equine herpes kills several horses at Wellington County farm
More than 20 horses are in quarantine at Irish Creek Stables in Wellington County, after ten were infected with equine herpes last month.
The virus known as EHV-1 was detected at the farm in early January.
Irish Creek Stables owner Liz Lewis said the virus had killed four horses and forced the farm to euthanize a fifth.
“I can’t even tell you how devastating it was. It was terrible,” Lewis told CTV News.
Equine herpes is a respiratory and neurological disease that horses can acquire at a young age.
Irish Creek Stables sent three infected horses to the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph to be better monitored. Lewis said two of the horses returned to the farm, the other died.
University of Guelph associate professor Luis Arroyo said a horse can go his whole life without spreading the disease or showing symptoms, but once a horse sheds the virus it can be easily transmitted.
“There are some horses that will be shedding the virus without showing any clinical signs,” Arroyo said. “That’s how it spreads just like the cold or the flu.”
Arroyo added that the virus can spread from horse to horse through direct contact, contaminated utensils, or from people who had been in close contact.
Equine herpes isn’t dangerous to humans.
Arroyo said most infected horses don’t die from the disease, but it has been known to cause abortions as well as limiting their overall quality of life.
“The virus spreads in the system and affects the cells that line the blood vessels,” Arroyo said. “When that happens in the spinal cord for example, there’s no blood supply to that tissue so the neurons start to die and that’s why they show neurological signs and that’s why they go down and cannot get up.”
Lewis said one of the infected horses that did recover from the virus has been showing signs of neurological trauma.
“He had a little difficulty with walking on his hind so you can tell that it’s affected his left side,” Lewis said. “I think of it as having a stroke.”
Irish Creek Stables said it has paid around $20,000 for medication and veterinary care.
The farm will remain under quarantine until at least Feb. 14. No horses are permitted in or out of the property until each is tested and the quarantine is lifted.
Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture confirmed Irish Creek Stables is the only facility with reported EHV-1 infection in 2023.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
The latest seasonal outlook from The Weather Network shows early April will continue to be chilly with flip-flopping temperatures bringing above and below the usual levels of precipitation seen around this time.
A new Canadian study of 4.8 million people says a daily alcoholic drink isn't likely to send anyone to an early grave, nor will it offer any of the health benefits touted by previous studies, even if it is organic red wine.
W5 profiles the man who makes the sounds for breaking bones and squealing tires in Hollywood’s biggest films; and he does it from a small town in Ontario. Watch 'Sound Farms' at 7 p.m. on CTV W5.
Statistics Canada has released its new report about the Canadians level of confidence in Canada’s institutions, finding that recent immigrants are more likely to express confidence in the media and parliament.
U.S. President Joe Biden has all but announced he's running for reelection, but key questions about the 2024 campaign are unresolved: Who will manage it? Where will it be based? When will he finally make it official?
In a choice forced upon them by the Canadian government, four mothers have made the agonizing decision to forfeit an opportunity to repatriate their children from open air prisons in northeast Syria.
London police responded to Dundas Street, just west of William Street around 6:30 p.m. Friday evening for a reported shooting. According to police, one person is in custody.
When police arrived to a collision on Degge Street, they said they spoke to the driver at fault for the crash and believed him to be driving while impaired by alcohol.
The leader of Ontario's new democrats says she's removed long-time party member Michael Mantha from caucus amid an independent investigation into alleged workplace misconduct.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
A northern Ontario man has been banned from licenced hunting and fined $5,000 after pleading guilty to having more than six times the legal limit of grouse and obstructing conservation officers.
A Brampton, Ont. man is under arrest after what is being described as a “troubling series of events” that saw female paramedics in Peel Region allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed.
The leader of Ontario's new democrats says she's removed long-time party member Michael Mantha from caucus amid an independent investigation into alleged workplace misconduct.
Akwesasne Mohawk Police say they are working with Immigration Canada and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to confirm the identities of the eight migrants whose bodies were pulled from the St. Lawrence River this week.
April Fools' Day -- better known as poisson d'Avril in Quebec -- is upon us. Some of the province's familiar faces got into the spirit Saturday with a few light-hearted social media pranks.
After the RCMP commissioner admitted he didn't read the Mass Casualty Commission’s final recommendations, family members of those killed in the April 2020 tragedy say they have doubts the force will change.
Cape Breton University has more than doubled in size by enrolling thousands of international students, and critics say the campus and community weren't ready. Watch the documentary 'Cash Cow' on CTV W5, Saturday at 7 p.m.
The United Conservative Party (UCP) of Alberta announced Saturday that Rajan Sawhney will run as a UCP candidate for Calgary North-West after announcing in February that she wouldn't be running for re-election in Calgary North-East.
Officials in Vancouver said they plan to meet with the artist and volunteers who are keeping vigil on a children's shoe memorial on the steps of the city's art gallery in an effort to end the tribute to children who didn't return from residential schools.
