8-8-2003 |
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RAPIDLY SPREADING WEST NILE VIRUS RENEWS FOCUS ON HORSE VACCINE Commissioner of Agriculture Gus R. Douglass is again encouraging horse owners to vaccinate their animals following an August 7 Centers for Disease Control (CDC) report announcing that cases of West Nile Virus (WNV) had tripled in the U.S. in the previous week. “Because West Nile Virus did not appear in this country until 1999, it is not a part of the standard, multi-disease vaccine given to many horses,” said Commissioner Douglass. “However, the West Nile vaccine is available separately and has proven to be an effective means of protection against the disease.” The CDC reported that 164 people in 16 states have contracted the disease, compared with only 59 cases a week ago, and has been found in animals in 38 states. At the same time last year, the disease was reported in 112 humans in only four states. WNV is rarely deadly to humans, but about 1 in 150 people who contract it develop encephalitis or meningitis, serious and potentially lethal conditions. However, death rates are much higher in horses that contract the disease. “Research has indicated that up to 40 percent of the horses that get West Nile die from it,” said Dr. Joe Starcher, state veterinarian and director of the West Virginia Department of Agriculture’s (WVDA) Animal Health Division. “Given the wide distribution of the disease throughout the country and the state, vaccination is highly recommended.” So far in West Virginia, birds have tested positive for WNV in three counties: Kanawha, Greenbrier and Morgan. Perhaps more importantly, surveillance has revealed two birds carrying Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE or triple-E) in birds in Wood and Nicholas counties. “Triple-E and West Nile are very similar diseases, with very similar symptoms,” continued Starcher. “Both cause stumbling, stupor and fever of 102 degrees or more. The difference is that with triple-E, the horses eventually go down - and stay down.” Fatality rates in horses may run as high as 90 percent, said Starcher, but EEE is included in the standard “five-way” vaccine for horses, along with Western Equine Encephalitis, tetanus, rhinopneumonitis and flu. Starcher also strongly recommended that horse owners vaccinate against rabies, another deadly disease prevalent in West Virginia. “I've been at the State Fair the past couple of days doing spot checks on animals coming in for shows, and the people bringing in horses are really scared that their animals could be at risk,” he said. “They can put their minds at ease if they’ll call their local veterinarian and arrange to have a full series of vaccinations for their horses. It not only protects their animals, it also prevents them from spreading one of these diseases to other animals.” |
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