Time to Schedule West Nile Vaccination for Horses

Time to Schedule West Nile Vaccination for Horses

Last week’s gorgeous weather around most of the Pacific Northwest, got most of us to begin thinking about summer’s arrival. That hot weather is also a precursor to the beginning of mosquito season as well.

 

Although each state only reported several cases of horses contracting West Nile virus, the disease has proven fatal to horses in about a third of cases. Acting State Veterinarian Dr. Paul Kohrs recommends the region’s horse owners to get their horses vaccinated for West Nile now. He says if a horse hasn’t yet received the vaccination

 

Kohrs: “If it is their first time — they need a booster in two to three weeks. And then about two to three weeks after that they would have immunity. But they would be pretty safe in about four weeks, after, if it is the initial series — otherwise, they need an annual booster.”

 

Horses can only get this disease through an infected mosquito’s bite not from other horses. Dr. Kohrs explains the symptoms of the diseases in horses

 

Kohrs: “The horses will be depressed. They may be off their feed. You may see some neogorcial signs some shuffling, some weakness particularly in the rear end — lack of tail and anal tone—those sorts of things. If the signs progress, the animal can go down. Once they are down, the recovery rate is really low.”

 

In addition to vaccinating your horses, be sure and get rid of any standing water as in bird baths, old tires. Kohrs suggests dumping out and cleaning stock water tanks once a week, so that mosquitoes can’t hatch in tanks.

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