FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22, 2016
CONTACT: Jen Kendrick, public information officer, NCDA&CS Public Affairs Division
919-707-3005
RALEIGH
– North Carolina horse owners are urged to vaccinate their equine after
two horses in Horry County, South Carolina contracted Eastern Equine
Encephalomyelitis within the past three weeks. EEE is a mosquito-borne
disease that is preventable in equine by vaccination. Horry County is
the northern-most coastal county in South Carolina and borders Brunswick
County in North Carolina.
EEE causes inflammation or
swelling of the brain and spinal cord and is usually fatal. Symptoms
includ
e impaired vision, aimless wandering, head pressing, circling,
inability to swallow, irregular staggering gait, paralysis, convulsions
and death. Once a horse has been bitten by an infected mosquito, it may
take three to 10 days for signs of the disease to appear.
“If your horses exhibit any symptoms of EEE, contact your veterinarian immediately,” said State Veterinarian Doug Meckes. Meckes
recommends that equine owners talk to their veterinarians about an
effective vaccination protocol to protect horses from EEE and another
mosquito-borne disease, West Nile virus. The combo vaccination initially
requires two shots, 30 days apart, for horses, mules and donkeys that
have no prior vaccination history. Meckes recommends a booster shot
every six months.
Mosquitoes can breed in any puddle that lasts for
more than four days, so removing any source of standing water can reduce
the chance of exposing animals to WNV or EEE. Keeping horses in stalls
at night, using
insect screens and fans and turning off lights after dusk can also help
reduce exposure to mosquitoes. Insect repellants can be effective if
used according to manufacturers’ instructions.
People, horses and
birds can become infected from a bite by a mosquito carrying the
diseases, but there is no evidence that horses can transmit the viruses
to other horses, birds or people through direct contact.
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