The horse named Powered By Pep had just won his class at a competition in Bakersfield when his owner, David Booth, noticed that the animal was not quite himself. "A little slow-footed," the 22-year-old Acton rancher recalled Monday. Booth had Pep's temperature taken and soon discovered that his 7-year-old bay gelding had fallen victim to a dire outbreak of equine herpes virus-1, a highly contagious airborne virus that has killed or resulted in the euthanizing of at least seven horses this month and sown fear in equine circles across the Western states. The outbreak started, authorities agree, at an event in Ogden, Utah, between April 18 and May 3, and has spread to nine states, including California, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington. Horse events from Tulsa, Okla., to San Diego County have been canceled because of the scare. Colorado, which has reported 22 suspected cases and two euthanizings, is requiring health certifications for horses crossing its border. In California, the Department of Food and Agriculture reported one new case of EHV-1 on Monday. That brought the state's total to 18, including Pep in Acton and another horse in Ventura County. Seven of the horses displayed the more severe neurological signs, including one whose condition grew so grave that he had to be put down, authorities said. The 17 survivors are under a state-ordered quarantine and are being treated by private veterinarians, said Steve Lyle, public affairs director at the state Department of Food and Agriculture. Lyle said the department is not ordering or recommending that horse events in the state be cancelled, although "that could change at some point." ..more
EHV-1 updates from across the US
Oregon: Threat of equine virus cancels horse events
Ca: Rodeo rules will help minimize threat of EHV-1A
No EHV-1 cases in Texas as of Tuesday
Texas: Bar-None bars all due to animal health concerns
Canada: Virus puts kibosh on high school rodeo
NCHA Cutting Weekend Cancelled - All NCHA shows will be cancelled through June 5, 2011
EHV-1 Outbreak: Case Total Holding Steady
Nebraska: Five horse premises quarantined
Arizona: Virus fears cancel horse show
Kansas: Briar Fox Farm Spring Horse Trials Has Been Canceled Due To EHV-1 Outbreak
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