FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, September 17, 2009

For more information contact:
Bill Clary

(502) 564-1137

HORSES FROM HOOSIER PARK BANNED
FROM KY. TRACKS, TRAINING FACILITIES

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Based on the recommendation of State Veterinarian Robert C. Stout, horses from Hoosier Park will not be permitted into the barn areas of any Kentucky race track or public training facility under the jurisdiction of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission due to an outbreak of strangles at the Anderson, Ind., track.

“Based on the information we have, we believe any horse that has been at Hoosier Park recently poses an increased risk of carrying and spreading the Streptococcus equi bacterium that causes strangles,” Dr. Stout said. Dr. Stout also recommended that any horse that has been at Hoosier Park recently should be isolated and closely monitored for at least 21 days.

Strangles has been confirmed in two horses at Hoosier Park. The other 57 horses that were housed with the two infected horses have been quarantined.

Strangles is a highly contagious upper respiratory infection. The bacterium that causes strangles is spread by direct horse-to-horse contact and also may be spread by flies, contaminated equipment, or by a person handling the horse who may be carrying the organism on clothing, boots or hands.

Initial symptoms include mild lethargy; fever; a slight cough; a clear, watery discharge that soon changes to thick and yellow, and swelling and abscess formation in the lymph nodes under the jaw. Strangles is seldom fatal but can render affected horses unable to perform for several weeks.

Kentucky’s equine industry accounts for 100,000 jobs and generates $4 billion in economic activity every year in the Commonwealth.

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