Two Virginia Horses Test Positive for EHV-1
EDCC Health Watch
EquiManagement.com
February 25, 2026
Two horses in Louisa County, Virginia, have tested positive for equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1). The index case developed neurologic signs, became recumbent, and was euthanized. Another horse on the property developed a fever and tested positive but does not currently have neurologic signs.
Full text: https://equimanagement.com/news/edcc-health-watch/2-virginia-horses-test-positive-for-ehv-1/
California Quarter Horse Tests Positive for EIA
EDCC Health Watch
TheHorse.com
February 25, 2026
On Feb. 2, a 4-year-old Quarter Horse mare in Riverside County, California, tested positive for equine infectious anemia (EIA). The mare was euthanized. Thirty-five potentially exposed horses at the premises have tested negative for EIA and will remain under quarantine until their 60-day retest. Epidemiological tracing is ongoing.
Full text: https://thehorse.com/1142483/california-quarter-horse-tests-positive-for-eia-6/
North Dakota Broodmare Contracts EHV
EDCC Health Watch
EquiManagement.com
February 26, 2026
On Feb. 25, a Quarter Horse broodmare in Stutsman County, North Dakota, tested positive for equine herpesvirus (EHV) after aborting her foal on Feb. 17. Forty horses on the farm have been exposed.
Full text: https://equimanagement.com/news/edcc-health-watch/north-dakota-broodmare-contracts-ehv/
Preliminary Testing Confirms HPAI in Caroline County [MD]
State officials have quarantined all affected premises
MorningAgClips.com
February 26, 2026
ANNAPOLIS, Md. - The Maryland Department of Agriculture has announced a presumptive positive case of H5 Avian Influenza on a commercial broiler farm in Caroline County. This is the second case of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) on a commercial poultry farm in Caroline County this year and the third case in Maryland in 2026. State officials have quarantined all affected premises, and birds on the property are being or have been depopulated to prevent the spread of the disease. Birds from the infected flock will not enter the food system.
Confirmation by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratory is pending, with final results anticipated in the coming days.
Full text: https://www.morningagclips.com/preliminary-testing-confirms-hpai-in-caroline-county/
Avian flu hits poultry in Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Kansas [edited]
In the latest U.S. cases, broilers, turkeys and laying hen breeders are infected.
By Roy Graber
WATTAgNet.com
February 26, 2026
PA:
The latest HPAI case to be confirmed in Pennsylvania, according to information from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), was a commercial broiler flock in Lancaster County. The affected flock included 157,300 chickens.
SD:
APHIS reported that a flock of 50,400 commercial meat turkeys in Beadle County had been struck by HPAI.
This is the third commercial poultry operation in South Dakota to be hit by HPAI so far in 2026, with all three instances involving turkeys. The other two affected flocks were in Charles Mix County, with those cases being confirmed on February 3 and February 18.
KS:
The latest flock infection in Kansas occurred in Pottawatomie County in a commercial egg laying breeder flock. A total of 24,000 birds were affected.
This is the state's second commercial poultry flock to by hit by HPAI in 2026, with the other also occurring in Pottawatomie County. That case was confirmed on January 6 and involved 380,000 commercial pullets.
3. SHIC aligns 2026 Plan of Work with swine health, industry needs
Emerging disease response priorities include New World screwworm, H5N1 IAV, porcine sapovirus and porcine astrovirus 4.
By Swine Health Information Center
National Hog Farmer
February 26, 2026
Each year, the Swine Health Information Center updates its Plan of Work developed from stakeholder priorities. The 2026 Plan of Work, which guides SHIC's activities, contains 25 projects and topics designed to fulfill SHIC's five strategic priorities:
Improve swine health information
Monitor and mitigate risks to swine health
Respond to emerging disease
Surveillance and discovery of emerging disease
Swine disease matrices
SHIC's 2025 Progress Report contains details on the record return on investment for the center's activities to protect and enhance the health of the U.S. swine herd, based on Plan of Work deliverables.
4. First Cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Northern Elephant Seals Confirmed in California
Cases at Aņo Nuevo State Park Mark State's First Detection of the Disease in a Marine Mammal
By UC Davis News
February 25, 2026
Seven weaned elephant seal pups in California's Aņo Nuevo State Park tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory confirmed Tuesday evening.
The outbreak marks the first cases of HPAI H5N1 in marine mammals in California and the first detection in northern elephant seals. The disease decimated populations of a related species, southern elephant seals, in Argentina in 2023.
"This is exceptionally rapid detection of an outbreak in free-ranging marine mammals," said Professor Christine Johnson, director of the Institute for Pandemic Insights at the UC Davis' Weill School of Veterinary Medicine. "We have most likely identified the very first cases here because of coordinated teams that have been on high alert with active surveillance for this disease for some time."
5. Proposal would loosen rabies vaccine requirements for certain pets - for a fee
By: Molly Rains
New Hampshire Bulletin
February 24, 2026
The New Hampshire House of Representatives is considering a bill that would exempt some pets from booster shots intended to protect against rabies, but state veterinarians said the proposal was not founded on solid data.
Rep. Keith Ammon, a New Boston Republican, is the prime sponsor of House Bill 1488, which would allow pet owners to bypass a state-required rabies booster by presenting the results of a test affirming their pet has some level of immunity to the deadly disease in their system from a previous vaccine.
The proposal, Ammon said, was requested by a constituent seeking a way to bypass the state's requirement because of concerns about secondary effects of the vaccine and a belief that the current schedule is excessive. But a decrease in rabies vaccination rates could be deadly for both people and animals, and the alternative testing called for in the proposal does not provide sufficient evidence that an animal is immune to rabies, said New Hampshire State Veterinarian Mark Prescott.