Leading Maritime horseman Marc Campbell recently took to social media to comment on a yearling in his operation that has tested positive for strangles (Streptococcus equi) and has led to scratches from his stable.
Campbell made the social media announcement this past Friday (Nov. 6) and the Atlantic Provinces Harness Racing Commission followed suit with an industry announcement on Saturday (Nov. 7).
"Today we got word that one of your yearlings tested positive for strangles," Campbell stated in the Friday social media post. "It is not a virus I myself have ever had to become familiar with but it has lead to a afternoon of educating myself.
"The decision was left up to myself to let the public know in order to potentially prevent the spread of this virus through the racing community or to not report it, obviously I chose to do what I feel was the right thing and report it to our commission. I’m hoping this will stop its spread and this yearling in our stable will be the start and end to this infection on PEI."
Campbell stated that the strangles positive in his stable will affect his operation for at least the upcoming days.
"As a result of this decision, I am forced to draw all my horses that were entered to race this week (including a large stake race in Truro) and quarantine my barn until our vet sees fit," Campbell wrote. "It is a huge strain on our stable, but as we’ve had to do in many other circumstances in the past and will have to do in the future, we will take it in stride."
For more information concerning strangles, please click this link: What To Know About Strangles.
The complete contents of Campbell's social media post appear below.
I’m not one to post on Facebook but I feel I should clear some air.....
Today we got word that one of your yearlings tested positive for strangles. It is not a virus I myself have ever had to become familiar with but it has lead to a afternoon of educating myself.
The decision was left up to myself to let the public know in order to potentially prevent the spread of this virus through the racing community or to not report it, obviously I chose to do what I feel was the right thing and report it to our commission. I’m hoping this will stop its spread and this yearling in our stable will be the start and end to this infection on PEI.
As a result of this decision, I am forced to draw all my horses that were entered to race this week (including a large stake race in Truro) and quarantine my barn until our vet sees fit. It is a huge strain on our stable but as we’ve had to do in many other circumstances in the past and will have to do in the future, we will take it in stride.
If your horse is in our care, please know we have followed all instructions in order to prevent the spread and to best protect your animal. The infected animal will be taken to a isolated farm until she is cleared of the infection and your horses will continue to be cared for. The track has offered us our own hours to jog all horses in our care in order to limit contact with any other animals on the premises, their trek to becoming champions continues!!
My family and I, along with our staff are still trying to process all of this, as I said it is a huge hit to our stable. We will do our best to keep everyone safe and be back on the track ASAP. We hope this adds some clarity to any of you who may have been wondering what was up!
Thanks for your support!
MCR