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[RC] BOAH Release: First IN horse test Positive for WNV - Buffy

-----Original Message-----
From: Derrer, Denise [mailto:dderrer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 1:43 PM
To: Derrer, Denise
Subject: BOAH Release: First IN Horse Tests West Nile-Positive

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:  Denise Derrer, Public Information Director, 317/227-0308;
dderrer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

First West Nile-Positive Hoosier Horse Reported;
Mosquito-Related Illnesses on Rise

INDIANAPOLIS (20 August 2003)-A mare in Montgomery County is the first
Indiana horse to test positive for the disease caused by the West Nile virus
this year. The 17-year-old quarter horse is currently recovering, after
supportive treatment and care. The horse was not vaccinated against the
mosquito-borne disease that sickened hundreds of Hoosier horses last year.
    During 2002, 722 horses statewide tested positive for the disease.
An informal survey of veterinary practitioners indicated that many more
horses, which were not laboratory tested, were likely infected with the
disease last year.
    Mosquito-borne diseases should be of particular concern to horse
owners this year, according to Sandra Norman, DVM, Director of the Equine
Division of the Indiana State Board of Animal Health.
    "This season's wet weather has created an ideal environment for
breeding mosquitoes that carry diseases threatening to horses," she said.
"Besides the West Nile virus, Eastern equine encephalitis has been on the
rise nationwide this summer."
    Although Indiana has not had a recent EEE-positive horse, owners
should be aware of the disease, which is considered much more deadly to
horses than West Nile.
    "As many as nine out of 10 horses with triple-E die, while the death
rate for Hoosier horses with West Nile was only about 25 percent last year,"
Norman explained. "That's why horse owners need to be sure their animals are
vaccinated."
  The vaccine for EEE is typically given simultaneously in combination
with vaccines against Western equine encephalitis and tetanus. Like the West
Nile vaccine, the initial two-dose combination regimen must be administered
3 weeks to 6 weeks apart, with annual boosters thereafter. Vaccine
protection against all of these diseases should be made a normal part of a
horse's regular veterinary care, Norman said.
    Horse owners should contact a veterinarian immediately if they see
any unusual clinical signs in their animals, including unsteadiness,
inability to stand or loss of coordination. While no cure exists for either
disease, horses diagnosed and treated early are more likely to survive
infection by an arbovirus.
    Property owners should also work to eliminate potential breeding
sites for mosquitoes, including sources of standing water, like puddles,
buckets, old tires and bird baths. Mosquitoes can reproduce in very small
quantities of standing water in less than a week.
-30-



Denise Derrer
Public Information Director
Indiana State Board of Animal Health
805 Beachway Drive, Ste. 50
Indianapolis, IN  46224-7785
317/227-0308
fax: 317/227-0330
email:  dderrer@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



  Buffy

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