Horse disease cases quash rodeo events

South Point has canceled this week’s “Let It Ride” rodeo events because of safety concerns raised by the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

A department veterinarian imposed a quarantine on three Clark County horse facilities after three horses were diagnosed with equine herpes virus. The EHV-1 virus is a reportable disease, which means veterinarians must disclose cases to the state, the department said Friday.

The name of the facilities placed under quarantine will not be released under state law, which says that details on animal disease reports must be confidential unless there is a public health risk. Humans can spread the illness between horses, but are not susceptible themselves.

South Point announced Monday that the team penning and ranch sorting events planned Friday to Sunday were canceled.

“After working closely with the state veterinarian, we have decided to cancel this week’s equestrian event to ensure the safety of our equine guests,” Steve Stallworth, the Arena and Equestrian Center general manager, said in a statement Monday night. “We will continue to work with them to make sure the facility is sanitized and safe for upcoming events.”

The agriculture department said that horses were likely exposed to the virus at the Feb. 22-24 Nevada State Junior Rodeo in Pahrump.

Symptoms of EHV-1 include fever, cough and runny nose, the department said. The disease has an incubation period of four to seven days, but may take up to 14 days to manifest.

Agriculture department veterinarian Dr. JJ Goicoechea said in the release that “Equine Herpes Virus-1 can cause respiratory disease in young horses, abortions in pregnant mares and neurologic disease in older horses.”

to amending it to address how long the kits must be kept. They presented the bill before the Assembly Judiciary committee Monday, joined by noted women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred.

Regardless of retention policies, advocates said the bill was a needed step toward eliminating the statute of limitations for all cases of sexual assault, as 10 states have done.

“I am contacted daily by victims who I am unable to assist because the statute has run in their state,” Allred told the committee.

Contact Bill Dentzer at bdentzer@ reviewjournal.com or 775-461-0661. Follow @Dentzernews on Twitter.