6-13 FB Why is Herpes lethal

How can a herpes virus be so deadly to horses when it is not typically lethal to humans.

 The recent outbreak of equine herpes virus type I has caused quite the stir throughout the Northwest and Canada. Horses were exposed to the virus at a cutting horse event in Utah and  at last count, almost 2 dozen horses had died from the disease. I asked Idaho’s chief veterinarian, Dr. Bill Barton, how it is that this condition can be so deadly to horses. “In horses there are actually nine types of herpes virus. The most common ones we see our type I and type IV. Type I can express itself in several different forms. The most common is the respiratory form  where the horse shows respiratory symptoms, coughing, sneezing, nasal discharge and mild fever. The other form can cause abortion in pregnant mares. There is also a third form which is the neurological form which we don’t see as often but it causes inflammation of the vessels that supply the brain and spinal cord and results in the horse displaying lack of coordination, difficulty standing, trouble urinating and eventually those horses may go down and not be able to rise. So it is a form of the disease that we do see periodically but it is not as common as the respiratory form.