Organizers of Folsom’s annual Horse and Wagon Christmas Parade announced Thursday they would canceled the small but popular holiday procession due to a recent outbreak of equine herpes in neighboring states.

Though the virus has not been identified in St. Tammany Parish or elsewhere in Louisiana, according to parade organizer Abby Clelland, the choice to cancel was done out of an abundance of caution.

The parade in the village of Folsom, about 15 miles north of Covington in northeast St. Tammany Parish, was to be held Saturday afternoon.

“The virus isn’t going around our area, but it’s an aggressive virus and we really don’t want to take the chance of putting any horses at any risk whatsoever,” Clelland said. “It’s easily transmitted from horse to horse. Even though the chances of it ha

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