Equine disease causing havoc at Hawthorne

An outbreak of equine herpesvirus has taken the lives of three horses at Hawthorne Race Course and quarantine regulations the Illinois Department of Agriculture have imposed for more than two months have prevented any of the approximately 1,900 horses stabled there from leaving the grounds.

A fever and nasal discharge are the symptoms of the disease and in the most severe neurologic strain horses lose coordination. The cause of the virus that can by spread either by direct contact or through the air is unknown. There is no vaccine to prevent it.