Cutting Horse

RENO, Nev. -- Concerned about the threat of a catastrophic outbreak of a herpes virus among wild horse herds in the West, national animal advocates on Thursday called on the federal government to keep potentially infected domestic horses away from mustangs and burros on public lands.

The Humane Society of the United States urged the Bureau of Land Management to "discourage and, if possible and appropriate, prohibit" owners of private horses from bringing animals at risk of Equine Herpes Virus-1 onto federal lands where they could have contact with wild horses.

"The potential for a catastrophic outbreak of EHV-1 among wild horse herds needs to be addressed by the BLM on an emergency basis," Holly Hazard, the society's chief innovations officer, wrote in a letter to BLM Director Bob Abbey.

SALEM, Ore. -- One horse in Oregon has tested positive for a contagious and potentially fatal virus linked to a cutting horse show in Ogden.

The Oregon Department of Agriculture said Wednesday that tests found the virus in a horse in Clackamas County that had close contact with horses that attended the Utah show.

The horses have been quarantined and so far have not shown any symptoms of the disease known as equine herpes virus.

Authorities have said that 18 Oregon horses were at the National Cutting Horse Association's Western National Championship held recently

A host of horse-related events scheduled throughout the state over the next few weeks have been canceled Tuesday as the result of the Equine Herpes Virus-1 outbreak.