First Horses Leaving Hawthorne Since Quarantine
The first horses were allowed to leave Hawthorne Race Course this
afternoon since a quarantine was imposed due to an EHV outbreak.
Horses from the barn of Trainer Gary Scherer received approval to
move horses to a facility in Kentucky.
The ability to move horses was confirmed by the Illinois Department of
Agriculture during the ITHA/Hawthorne sponsored conference call this
past Monday. Following that call, ITHA/Hawthorne posted the following
protocol to remove horses from Hawthorne:
To be able to exit the grounds of Hawthorne, the following must be done:
-Permission from the state of destination’s Department of Agriculture
must be granted in written form, listing their approval along with the
location of the approved quarantine facility.
-That permission must then be sent to the Illinois Department of
Agriculture for their consent.
-Upon approval, by both state’s Department of Agricultures,
arrangements must be made through those Departments for a
federal veterinarian to be on-site at Hawthorne to fill out a VS 1-27
form and seal the trailer before it may leave.
-When the trailer arrives at its destination, it must then be approved
by the federal veterinarian at the destination to insure the seal has
not been broken. If the seal is broken, those horses will be returned
to Hawthorne and Federal authorities may intervene.
The below pictures from today show USDA veterinarian Dr. Khan and Illinois State
veterinarian Dr. Folker inspecting and attaching federal seals today to one
of the trailers shipping the horses. A person from the Department of Agriculture
in Kentucky will be on hand to break these seals when the horses arrive at
their destination.
For more details on how to move horses from Hawthorne to an approved
facility as above, you should contact Dr. Dawn Folker-Calderon at
630-864-9730 and Dr. Mark Ernst at 217-782-4944.
To clear up some published misstatements regarding the ITHA's efforts in
connection with this outbreak, please be reminded of the following:
* ITHA was the first to disclose the isolation of Barn A by text message
the afternoon of Sunday, October 14, 2012 to all those trainers
and others signed up to receive such text messages. If you are not
signed up, please call our offices between 7am and 2pm daily and give
us your e-mail address.
* On Saturday, October 20th, the ITHA held a General Membership Meeting
at the Hawthorne Expo Center which was attended by between 60 and 100
persons including many of the trainers at Hawthorne. At that Meeting
Dr. Folker and Jim Miller addressed the situation and had a full discussion,
including questions from the audience, regarding the EHV outbreak as it
stood then, including recommendations on taking temperatures twice daily
to have a timeline for ill horses, preventative measures that should be taken
and informing grooms and foremen about hygiene issues and availability of
disinfectants. The ITHA President, Executive Director and Board Members
were present.
* Immediately following this meeting, the ITHA produced temperature charts
for trainers' convenience which were, and still are, available at the ITHA trailer.
* On Friday October 26th another such meeting and discussion took place at
the track kitchen, including Tim Carey, Jim Miller, Dr. Calderon, Dr. Seabaugh
and the ITHA President.
* On Saturday October 27th, the ITHA held a Board Meeting at the ITHA trailer
(which is open to all ITHA members) at which this issue was discussed as
part of our regular backside committee report.
* From October 16th through November 21st there have been more than
10 updates posted on our website about this outbreak and daily
communications available on our counter at the ITHA trailer including infromation
about the EHV virus and suggestions for proper hygiene in these situations.
We have participated in the securing of disinfectant wipes throughout this
situation and have bleach and gloves available at the ITHA trailer.
* We have also been in daily contact with Hawthorne and the State vets throughout
and have fielded many calls from trainers regarding this situation since the
outbreak. When questions were asked, we got answers. When suggestions were
made, we immediately followed up.
The ITHA has been fully engaged in the effort to inform membership and assist
in the eradication of this disease at Hawthorne. We will continue this effort until
the outbreak is over. Cooperation of all in following proper hygiene and timely
reporting of sick horses will help resolve this problem.
Glen Berman, ITHA Executive Director
