Equine owners can protect their horses, mules and donkeys against mosquito-borne illnesses by getting them vaccinated for EEE and West Nile Virus. Both can be deadly for equine.
- The weather is starting to heat up and we are seeing spring showers crop up here and there, so that means we will soon be seeing mosquitoes. They certainly seem like year-round residents here in the South.
- We all know they are annoying pests for us humans, but they can also pose severe problems for equine by passing viruses on that can be deadly.
- Each year, we try to remind equine owners to vaccinate their animals against Triple E (EEE) or Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis and West Nile Virus.
- Both of these are transmitted through mosquitoes and can be deadly for equine.
- EEE is fatal 90 percent of the time in horses and WNV has a fatality rate of 30 percent.
- The good news is both diseases are preventable by vaccination, which underscores the old saying that “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
- Reducing the spots where mosquitoes can breed among other measures can also be helpful in reducing the risk.
- Some of those include:
- Remove any source of standing water since mosquitoes can breed in any puddle of water that lasts for four days or more.
- Keep horses in stalls at night, using insect screens and fans.
- Turn off lights after dusk.
- Use insect repellants according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Symptoms of EEE include impaired vision, aimless wandering, head pressing, circling, inability to swallow, irregular staggering gait, paralysis, convulsions and death.
- It may take three to 10 days for symptoms to appear.
- Symptoms of WNV include fever, weakness or paralysis of hind limbs, impaired vision, head pressing, seizures and aimless wandering.
- There is no evidence that horses can transmit the virus to other horses, birds or people through direct contact.
- We recommend owners talk with their vet about a vaccination plan. It is also a good idea to keep up to date on Coggins testing or EIA testing (Equine Infectious Anemia) as well.