Horses Pulled From Annual Swallows Day Parade Amid Equine Virus

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — The annual Swallows Day Parade in San Juan Capistrano will miss one of the community's most well-loved attendees: the horses.

The annual event will go on without horses this year due to a contagious equine virus that has been reported throughout California, the OC Register reported Monday.

This move comes after event organizers received a letter authored by state veterinarian Dr. Annette Jones on March 3. The letter cautioned that a virus called equine herpesvirus myeloencephalopathy, alternatively called EHM, had been found in multiple horses across several California counties.

"[The virus] can have significant consequences to the horse industry, infecting thousands of horses due to the extensive mixing of horses at statewide, national and international horse events," Jones wrote in her letter.

To read more about this year's Swallows Day parade, visit the OC Register.