South Carolina, Wisconsin and Nevada each reported a new case of West Nile virus (WNV). Two of the three horses were euthanized.

South Carolina WNV

The first equine WNV case of 2017 was reported by the South Carolina State Veterinarian’s office. The affected horse was a 16-year-old Paint gelding from Colleton County was not vaccinated. He was euthanized. 

For more information go to https://www.clemson.edu/public/lph/ahp/disease-info/index.html and https://aaep.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Outside%20Linked%20Documents/DiseaseFactsheet_WNV.pdf.

Wisconsin WNV

Wisconsin reported its 14th case of equine WNV for 2017. The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection reported that a 15-year-old unvaccinated Arabian mare from Adams County was sampled on September 4 after exhibiting clinical signs for a few days. She was mildly ataxic and intermittently hypermetric with muscle tremors, particularly facial and appeared somewhat dazed. She was afebrile and eating. The attending veterinarian stated that after anti-inflammatory treatment, she appeared to have recovered completely.

Nevada WNV

The Nevada Department of Agriculture reported that an 8-year-old Quarter Horse gelding was euthanized due to clinical signs. A serum sample from the Elko County horse tested positive for WNV. The horse was not vaccinated. All other horses on the premise were vaccinated and no others were showing signs of disease to date. 

This article was created with information from the Equine Disease Communication Center (EDCC). The 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.