Portside Equestrian

Update ( Thursday March 14)

We have tested positive for Strangles.

Please bear with me, this is a long post.

Our end goal was to move our business by April 1st. This move has been put on hold and all horses will be asked to remain on the property until further notice.

As of today (March 14th) we have full biosecurity in effect.

As of Tuesday (March 12th) we had a horse receive a PCR for Strangles in preparation for moving to their new barn.
The following day that horse presented with a lack of appetite, and a fever of 38.8. That morning I made the decision to delay turn out for the rest of our herd while I waited to hear back from the vet who preformed the test. I made the decision to immediately set that horse and its paddock mate in a voluntary quarantine. The horse’s fever was treated with banamine by me and had subsided within 14 hours. The horse continues to not present any further symptoms of at this time.

With the property set up of our facility ultimately all horses are faced with a possibility of having contracted this. All of our fences touch, all of our stalls touch, all of us use the same riding rings.

Since then I have checked temperatures in the herd, and monitored for any further symptoms. Currently I do not have any further issues with any horses to report.

Our plan of attack is as follows and will be updated tomorrow after I get the opportunity to consult the treating vet for more details but for now here is what tonight and tomorrow holds
-Horses will be restricted to their stalls or paddocks to keep transmission as contained as possible
-Absolutely no horses or humans in or out.
-The affected horse(s) will continue to be on isolation until further notice.
-Foot baths and disposable clothing will be used when tending to the affected horse(s)
-Temperatures will be taken twice daily on all horses, owners will hear from me directly should anything be of concern. And, will continue to be done two weeks after the last negative test.
-Virkon will be used to clean all supplies and will be present as the cleaning agent of the foot baths as well
-Test horses that have recovered from disease at least twice at one week intervals using throat swabs or nasal wash samples to confirm they are negative

Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

Thank you for your cooperation
I will keep you all updated

Update (April 10)

Update
Of the two horses who lived together one left to continue isolation at their new farm. As for the horse still with me; it continues to remain completely isolated and we will have the final test results tomorrow. The remainder of the herd (touch wood) never displayed any symptoms during their quarantine period and were allowed to get back to normal!