New Brunswick Equine Virus Advisory Spurs Calls for Public Veterinary Services

A precautionary horse-health advisory tied to events in Sussex, N.B., is now carrying weight beyond the show ring.

Authorities have warned horse owners about possible exposure to Equine Herpesvirus Type 1, or EHV-1, after a horse at a Sussex show came from the same boarding facility as another horse confirmed positive for the virus. Your Saint John reported, citing the Maritime Provinces Harness Racing Commission, that the confirmed positive horse did not attend the shows.

Sussex advisory puts owners on alert

The advisory urged horse owners, trainers and exhibitors to monitor their animals, isolate sick or potentially exposed horses, tighten biosecurity and contact veterinarians for advice.

Dr. Nicole Wanamaker, New Brunswick’s chief veterinary officer, described the practical steps owners should take as “monitoring their horse, using good biosecurity practices on their farms.”

“Any sick horses are isolated, calling their veterinarian to seek veterinary advice, talking to veterinarians and seeing what they can do to help protect their horse’s health,” Wanamaker said.

The warning has already prompted cancellations of some equine events in the region, a sign of how quickly a potential exposure can disrupt horse communities.

What EHV-1 can do

EHV-1 is a contagious horse virus that spreads through horse-to-horse contact and shared equipment. It can cause respiratory illness and, in serious cases, neurological disease.

Wanamaker said the neurological form is where concern rises.

“Treatment would be a little more difficult, prognosis would be poor or at least more difficult to predict what would happen to this horse,” she said.

Dr. Mary-Ellen Themens, registrar for the New Brunswick Veterinary Medical Association, compared the basic containment approach to familiar infection-control habits.

“You avoid sharing the water buckets. You wash your hands, you change your clothes,” Themens said. “So you clean the stall and then you disinfect.”

Stables tighten their routines

For horse owners, the advisory has meant a return to strict barn-level precautions.

Kim Taylor, owner of Silverwood Arabians in Fredericton, said she is taking the report seriously.

“There’s no horses coming in or out. People coming in, we’ve asked where they’ve been, if they’ve been in a horse facility. We ask that they change all of their clothing, footwear. Everything’s clean coming into the farm,” Taylor said.

Her concern is not abstract.

“Any virus that goes around is a concern to any horse facility because they are contagious and they can spread really, really quickly,” she said.

That is the same risk veterinarians are pointing to when they advise isolation, monitoring and fast calls for professional guidance.

Veterinary phaseout fuels concern

The advisory is also landing as New Brunswick prepares to phase out publicly funded field veterinary services for large animals on March 31, 2027.

Horse owners, veterinarians and equine groups have said the phaseout could make timely animal care harder to obtain during disease outbreaks.

Dr. Jordan Koivu, owner of Maritime Equine Veterinary Services, said the Sussex advisory shows why quick access matters.

“If the horse is sick and they need to have a veterinarian see it, it might take three or four days to get a veterinarian out to see the horse,” Koivu said. “And, by then, it could have already got eight other horses sick.”

Taylor put the worry more bluntly.

“Without these vets, we don’t have anything,” she said.

Deanna Phelan, president of the New Brunswick Equestrian Association, said sanitation and vaccination are part of the responsibility horse people carry.

“It’s our job as equestrian owners, exhibitors, riders, to make sure that we keep our animals as healthy as possible,” Phelan said.

The Winnipeg Free Press reported that the New Brunswick government has said public tax dollars should not subsidize hobby farms, non-commercial livestock and equine facilities.

For now, the immediate advice remains practical: watch horses closely, keep potentially exposed animals apart, strengthen biosecurity and call a veterinarian when symptoms or concerns appear.

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