The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services reported strangles, Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) and West Nile virus in state horses. 

Florida Strangles

On September 25, 2017, one premise in Lake County, Florida, and one premise in Levy County, Florida, were placed under quarantine for clinical signs and positive PCR confirmation of strangles in horses. Each premise had one horse develop clinical signs after riding on a horse trailer together from Louisiana. This is the fourth strangles case for Lake County and the third case for Levy County. Florida has reported 29 total cases this year.

Florida WNV

On September 30, 2017, one horse in Collier County, Florida, was confirmed positive for West Nile virus. The horse was recovered by Collier County Animal Services after Hurricane Irma and became clinical on September 22. The vaccination history is unknown.

Florida EEE

On September 20, 2017, one horse in Levy County, Florida, was confirmed positive for Eastern equine encephalitis. The horse became clinical on September 19. The vaccination history is unknown.

Kentucky’s 14th Equine WNV Case

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture has reported a confirmed case of equine West Nile virus. An adult Tennessee Walking Horse cross with no WNV vaccination history in Garrard County showed an onset of clinical signs on September 30. The horse went down with proprioceptive deficits and was euthanized. This is the 14th confirmed case of equine WNV reported in Kentucky in 2017.

The Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC) works to protect horses and the horse industry from the threat of infectious diseases in North America. The communication system is designed to seek and report real time information about disease outbreaks similar to how the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) alerts the human population about diseases in people.