Horse gets encephalitis, West Nile

BATON ROUGE — State Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain says a horse in Livingston Parish has been euthanized after reportedly testing positive for both West Nile virus and Eastern equine encephalitis.

It’s the first case of either this year. By this time last year, veterinarians had reported seven equine cases of West Nile virus and 10 of Eastern equine encephalitis.

Strain says, although human vaccines don’t exist, there are horse vaccines for both diseases — and owners should get horses vaccinated.

Horses and people get the diseases if an infected mosquito bites them.

Heavy rains in recent weeks have created mosquito breeding grounds.

Either disease can cause inflammation and swelling of the brain and spinal cord. Infected horses may show lethargy, weakness and paralysis. A high percentage of infected horses will die.

St. Landry Parish officials are considering preventative action after Lafayette Parish experts revealed a high presence of West Nile virus in the area.

The Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine recently released data showing the virus’ increased presence from its mosquito pools and sentinel chickens throughout Lafayette Parish. Scientists gather samples of a mosquito species from targeted areas, grind them down and test for the virus.

The sentinel chickens are kept in a variety of coops throughout the parish, and their blood is tested weekly.

The West Nile virus is transmitted when mosquitoes bite infected birds and later bite other animals.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, between 70 and 80 percent of human infections show no symptoms.

Around 20 percent result in relatively mild symptoms, including body aches, vomiting and diarrhea, that generally clear up on their own within several weeks.

Less than 1 percent of human cases result in severe infections, including meningitis or encephalitis, and around 10 percent of those infections will result in death, according to the CDC. Such patients require supportive hospitalized care. There are currently no vaccines or treatments for the West Nile virus.