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[RC] Re:WNV--"the rest of the story" - CMNewell



Joane Pappas White ... Throughout the year, I was surprised to see how little of the information actually known to CDC or the scientific community was being shared with the horse community---particularly our vets.


Funny--I certainly haven't felt that the CDC was hiding any information from myself or my colleagues.

people were still being told that
mosquitoes were the source of infection and that vaccinating the horses was
recommended.


Mosquitoes *are* the primary source. Vaccination *is* recommended.

...  What has not been addressed by any of the
vets I have talked to, and that is dozens of them, is why are we using a
vaccine that is currently estimated to be more than 10% effective against
the mutated virus?
Could you supply a reference for this 10% estimate? I'd be interested.
I am no fan of Ft. Dodge in particular, or the pharmaceutical industry in general, but I think the vaccine has a higher level of efficacy than 10%.



Every time I pick up a new equine magazine and see the push to vaccinate, I
shudder.  The WNV vaccine has had some serious reactions and if the horse is
already exposed, those reactions can be fatal.  Sooooooo, why has there been
no discussion of the risk vs. the benefit of the vaccine?

Funny. I've seen a number of discussions on the subject.



Even more important to me as a horse owner is the issue of other methods of
spread of the virus and the risk I might be creating for my horse if I
travel with him. Additionally, while we are being told publicly that the
virus is being spread by 37+ varieties of mosquitoes, the CDC has been
telling its government contacts that any of the dead birds (the vector for
the disease) should be removed from the proximity of animals and people. The
death rate among the bird population is huge and it appears that hundreds of
thousands of birds, or their remains, may be contributing to the spread of
the virus. For over a year, we have been told the virus is spread only by
mosquitoes---Now go to the CDC Website
(<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/q>http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/q&a.htm) and look at the newly
update information on Transmission---realize that this information is more
than 8 months old and is just now being released to the public.

OK--I went there and looked, and I saw nothing to indicate that there was a risk from dead birds. As for the other methods of transmission, they have been widely reported in the general press here. And since my horses are unlikely to be the recipients of trans[lanted organs, the risk to them from that source is negligible.





If you read all of this updated information, you will see the scope of this
virus.  Also keep in mind that it has been spreading all winter in regions
with freezing temperatures and no mosquitoes---(CDC Website map of South
Dakota--ask yourself how the entire state went positive for animals and
humans in October through March when only one county reports infected

mosquitoes).


Likely the dates in question are those in which the infection was *verified*--which means that laboratory work confirmed what may well have been a much earlier occurring clinical case.

I'm perfectly willing to believe that the existing vaccine is not the best that we *can* have, but at present, it is the only one we *do* have. Development is underway on newer versions, but there is a definite lag time between development and availability.

Do I think every horse everywhere in the US is at high risk of contracting WNV ? Not hardly.
Do I vaccinate my own stock and recommend it to folks in my area? You bet. And I also try to eliminate standing water, use fly spray, and try to make sure that my stock is generally healthy and therefore more likely to survive contact with evil bugs.


Even so, I'm still very confused as to exactly what you were getting at with your post--are we supposed to think that horses are at risk from dead birds, that there is a government conspiracy to hude the true vector of WNV, that the vaccine manufacturer deliberately produced a useless vaccine, or what?
--CMNewell, DVM



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