Horse owner alert: vaccinate for West Nile virus

With the summer rainstorms soon to be arriving, horse owners should take the precaution to vaccinate their horses against West Nile virus.

The mosquito that carries West Nile primarily targets birds, horses and humans.

“There are a lot of factors that can make this a pretty bad season for West Nile virus,” said Environmental Health Specialist Tami Schuler.

The horse vaccine is not a one-time only solution for owners.

“Once the horse is vaccinated, it should be given a booster once a year for protection. But check with a veterinarian to make sure the course of treatment is appropriate for the animal,” Schuler added.

According to the American Association of Equine Practitioners, a horse may experience symptoms such as: fever, stumbling, depression or apprehension, stupor, behavioral changes, weakness of limbs, partial paralysis, droopy lip, teeth grinding, muscle twitching, tremors, difficulty rising, convulsions, blindness, colic and intermittent lameness or death.

The AAEP says the fatality rate for horses with West Nile is thirty-three percent. For those that survive, forty percent have residual effects, which can be physical or behavioral, following a West Nile infection.

However, horse owners can also take some basic actions to help further prevent their animals from contracting West Nile.

Some of those actions include doing things such as: removing any stagnant water, removing objects in which water can gather and grow stagnant and keeping fans in houses stalls.

Mosquitoes are weak fliers, and the fans will keep them from being able to land and bite, Schuler said.

Pinal County Division of Environmental Health’s Vector Program has been keeping busy trapping and testing mosquitoes for any signs of West Nile in Pinal County.

“We are hoping Pinal County residents keep up the good work in ridding their property of standing water,” Schuler said. “If that happens, we can keep the mosquito population down for everyone, including the horses.”

File photo