A broodmare at Meers Horse Center on the IJweg in Nieuw-Vennep is infected with the highly contagious rhinovirus. To prevent the spread of the virus, the horse center is in quarantine. “No horses will be leaving or horses will be added in the next two weeks,” owner Mieke Beljaars-Verkaik tells NH.
Rhinovirus appears in Venneps riding school – NH News
The alarm bells started ringing when the pregnant broodmare suffered a miscarriage last Wednesday, says Mieke. A veterinarian who tested the lifeless foal concluded that the animal was infected with rhino EHV1+.
Because the unborn foal is infected, the mare automatically also has the virus. Yet the horse hardly seems to be bothered by it. “We immediately placed her in quarantine,” said an upset Mieke, “but she looks fit.”
The pregnant mares on the site do not often come into contact with each other, but Mieke is slightly concerned about the spread. “They sometimes stand in pairs in the paddock, but this mare has mainly stood alone in her box. Hopefully that has been our salvation.”
Quarantine
Testing live horses for the rhinovirus is not possible, according to Mieke. “We temperature them and keep an eye on them,” she says. For the time being, the other mares are not showing any symptoms, but that could still change. “The incubation period is two weeks,” she says.
Because the mares and the riding school ponies and horses are separated from each other, the lessons can continue. This is also in the interest of healthy horses, Mieke emphasizes. “Because if you stop horses, their resistance decreases.”
However, strict precautions will also apply for the next two weeks at the horse center, which sees around 650 people every week. “We sent everyone an email.”
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“Pension customers are only allowed to touch their own horses,” is one of the measures. Hanging around for a while after a riding lesson is not an option for the time being. “Children are normally also allowed to come and clean, but we now ask them to arrive no more than an hour before and stay until an hour after.”
People cannot become ill from the rhinovirus, but they can transmit it to healthy animals. To prevent this, visitors are not allowed to walk in the aisles and all shutters will be closed, Mieke informed her customers in an email about ‘the serious and sad situation’.
“It has been dead quiet since the infection, and that will remain so for a while”
Stable manager Aimy Nijburg sees the effects of the contamination on the riding school: “There are usually hundreds of people here in a week. That is no surprise with around 120 horses. On a Sunday morning you can walk over the heads here. Since the contamination is dead quiet, and it will remain that way for a while.”
“I’ve been worrying myself to death,” Mieke answers the question about how the infected mare picked up the virus. It must have been on the premises. “Because the last time she was outside was last summer [van het terrein af, red.] been.”
To prevent cross-contamination, she has also informed fellow horse breeders. The move of three ponies from a stable in Abbenes to Meers has been postponed due to the contamination.