Alex Haagen, III presenting Dr. Manno with a thank you plaque and gift certificate from Empire Polo Club.

After receiving the good news on Valentine’s Day from Dr. Mike Manno that the EHV-1 quarantine was finally lifted, the desert polo community is breathing much easier this week. Polo games have resumed, the players are playing and the storm clouds have lifted.

While the entire polo community participated in the quarantine and helped monitor and protect the horses, we would not have been as successful without the help of Dr. Mike Manno.  His initial isolation of the sick horse before test results even came back are what saved our polo community from a much bigger outbreak.   There was only 1 horse confirmed positive for the neurologic strain of EHV-1.  That is a small miracle in itself.

We would like to thank Dr. Manno for his time, hard work and diligence in managing the quarantine. It was no easy feat! It was a large-scale quarantine that included two polo clubs and several private ranches. With 1000+ horses in quarantine for 22 days.

Communicating the quarantine procedures and getting staff at both clubs and at all the barns up-to-speed on the biosecurity procedures took a lot of time and work. Every time a horse showed up with a fever Dr. Manno was there immediately to take samples, put the horse in isolation and then rush the sample to FedEx.

When the media swarmed both clubs looking for their hot story for the day, Dr. Manno made himself available to answer their questions and to participate in live news interviews. Like clockwork PoloZONE would receive a daily update on the EHV-1 situation from Dr. Manno. As soon as the results came back negative, a new report would arrive in our inbox or he would call with the good news.

Thank you Dr. Manno for successfully leading us through this quarantine. We appreciate your hard work and your dedication to the polo community.

On Friday night, Dr. Manno was recognized for his work during the EHV-1 Quarantine. Alex Haagen, III presented Dr. Manno with a engraved plaque and gift certificate from Empire Polo Club thanking him for his hard work, time and dedication to the polo community.   Dr. Katie Flynn from the State of California made a special trip to the desert to present Dr. Manno with a Certificate of Appreciation from the State of California honoring him for his excellent work in managing the quarantine.

Dr. Katie Flynn presenting Dr. Manno with a certificate of appreciation from the State of California.