USA Equine Virus Spreads but Show Goes on With Stick Horses

Horse people in the USA are currently battling to keep their precious horses safe from the deadly equine virus that is spreading across the country.

Associated Press have reported that there are now 75 confirmed cases of the virus in the nine states and horses at 61 facilities are suspected of being infected, the US Department of Agriculture said. A week ago, there were 34 confirmed cases and 9 horses had died, while 46 facilities were impacted.

The agency said 11 horses had been euthanised as of Wednesday, when officials from impacted states reported their data to the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspections Service, which issued a weekly report Thursday night. Another horse died Friday in New Mexico, bringing the national total to 12.

Veterinarians have been concerned because this EHV-1 virus is a mutant strain and is not covered by existing vaccines, according to Bruce L King, Utah state veterinarian. And it's highly contagious.

"It can be bridle to bridle, it can be aerosolized, and it can be nose to nose," King told ABC's affilliate, KTVX in Salt Lake City. "You could bridle your horse and go to another horse, touch him and get it that way."

Equine herpes is not transmitted to humans, according to Dr. Kenneth Fife, who specializes in infectious diseases and is professor of medicine at Indiana University Medical School.

Due to the highly contagious nature of the virus many horse events have been cancelled, but one imaginative committee decided to still run their event - the County Sheriff's Mounted Posse Junior Queen Contest in Utah, with competitors using stick horses - instead of their real horses!

CLICK HERE to read the story, view photos and watch the video as reported by www.nydailynews.com (photo: KSL-TV)