By JOEL ELLIOTT
Staff Writer Friday, March 30, 2007

Humans cannot catch the virus, known as Neurological Equine Herpes Virus Type-1 (EHV-1).

Not much is known about this virus other than that is a type of herpes that affects horses' nervous systems and is often fatal. It is extremely rare, as fewer than a dozen cases were recorded in the United States in 2006, according to Maine State Veterinarian Don Hoenig.

"This is the first incidence of it in Maine," he said. "It seems to be on the rise, and, in recent years, we've been very concerned about it coming into our state."

Hoenig said that there was nothing that the Bridges family, owners of Rome Farms, could have done to prevent the outbreak. The stables at the time were boarding 13 horses of different owners.

The first horse died at Rome Farms March 18, and Dexter "Buzz" Bridges was puzzled. When a second horse died the next day, he notified a veterinarian, a move that Hoenig said probably reduced the number of horses exposed to the virus.

Bridges initially did not suspect a virus as the reason for the deaths, since Rome Farms doesn't see a lot of new horses coming and going. Clients who choose the facility to board their horses tend to leave them there in the long term. The stables hadn't received a new horse in six months, Bridges said.

"Well, it shouldn't have been this stables, but it was the best place for it," he said. "We were able to contain it."

The likely culprit was a horse that carried the virus without immediately exhibiting symptoms, Hoenig said. So little is known about the virus that veterinarians are not sure whether it is a unique disease or a mutated form of the more common herpes virus that affects the respiratory system. It is not certain that the vaccine administered for the more common form of the virus will protect the animals, Hoenig said, but owners should vaccinate their horses as a matter of course.

The infected horse in Wales was still alive Thursday afternoon, and seemed to be responding well to treatment, Hoenig said. Nine horses are staying at the facility there.

At Rome Farms, members of the Bridges family are checking their horses' temperatures twice a day and looking in on them periodically.

"You never know what a day's going to bring," Bridges' wife, Theresa, said with a glance out the dining room window toward the barn. "You go out in the barn, and there might be another one down."

The Bridges family last year had been ecstatic about the opportunity to purchase and operate the stables. The outbreak has made its future uncertain, Bridges said.

"When I thought that this was poison, I was angry," he said. "But when I found out it was this -- It has the hand of God in it. And I can't be angry with that."

Joel Elliott -- 861-9252

jelliott@centralmaine.com