El4-Boarder & Trainer, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 10, 2003
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OSU Equine Experts Recommend
Vaccination Of Horses For West Nile Virus
COLUMBUS, Ohio Ohio
State University equine in
ternists are recommending
that horse owners vaccinate
their animals against West
Nile vaccine for equines, in
cluding horses. The vaccine
was to be available starting in
September and officials are
recommending that horses be
vaccinated twice this fall. The
vaccine requires an initial dose
and second dose three to six
weeks later.
Horse owners who are inter
ested in vaccinating their
horses should contact their
local veterinarian, and veteri
narians are being encouraged
to place orders so the compa
ny will have some indication
of the demand for the vaccine.
The vaccine is made with a
killed virus and has limited ef
ficacy data. However, a simi
lar vaccine for Japanese En
cephalitis virus, which is
closely related to West Nile
virus, has been used for many
years. The efficiency of the
Japanese Encephalitis vaccine
has been reported at 80 per
cent. Cases of West Nile virus
in horses have occurred as late
as October 2000 in the eastern
United States.
Newly Patented Virus Could Help
Control Disease-Carrying Mosquitoes
GAINESVILLE, Fla.
One mosquito genus, called
Culex,has been found to trans
mit WNV and the closely re
lated St. Louis encephalitis
(SLE). Now Agricultural Re
search Service scientists have
received a patent for a baculo
virus a virus specific to ar
thropods that kills Culex
mosquitoes. The patent also
includes a method for trans
mitting the baculovirus to
them. The baculovirus infects
only Culex mosquitoes not
other insects, plants, wildlife
or people.
Baculoviruses are extremely
uncommon in mosquitoes.
However, James J. Becnel, an
entomologist with the ARS
Center for Medical, Agricul-
Lancaster
Farming
Check
out
our
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www.lancagterf^rminq.oon
As part of the safety study
of the vaccine, 649 horses and
ponies were vaccinated. Sys
temic or local reactions oc
curred in very few of the vac
cinated horses. Three horses
had localized site reactions
(swelling and soreness); two
horses were reported to have a
fever following the initial vac
cination only; and two horses
had other reactions (mild di
arrhea within eight hours of
injection in one horse and one
horse was treated for colic
within a few hours of the ini
tial vaccination). According to
the report filed by Fort Dodge
Animal Health, the vaccine
did not induce any severe
local or systemic adverse re
actions in 98.5 percent of the
vaccinations. Therefore, the
vaccine appears to be safe.
Horse owners planning to
export their animals should be
aware that vaccinated animals
may not meet the import re
quirements of receiving coun
tries due to the presence of
anti-West Nile virus antibo
dies in blood. While these
antibodies are present tran
siently, presence of the antibo
dy when the horse is due to be
tural and Veterinary Entomol
ogy in Gainesville, Fla., dis
covered a novel baculovirus in
1997. Called CuniNPV, it is
very stable and persistent and
is a promising candidate to
develop into a larvicide.
The baculovirus is activated
when it is mixed with magne
sium. When the mixture is
any body
of water
where
mosqui
toes breed,
larvae in
gest it.
Accord
ing to Bec
nel, the
virus can
exported could result in denial
of permission to import.
In horses that do become
clinically ill, the virus infects
the central nervous system
and causes signs of encephali
tis. Clinical signs of encephali
tis in horses include loss of ap
petite and depression, in
addition to any combination
of the following: fever, weak
ness or paralysis of hind
limbs; impaired vision; ataxia
(incoordination); head press
ing; aimless wandering; con
vulsions; inability to swallow;
circling; hyperexcitability or
coma.
Horse owners are encour
aged not to become compla
cent once their horses have
been vaccinated. Elimination
of mosquito breeding sites and
personal protection are still
important. Another important
role the horse owner may play
in efforts to prevent West Nile
virus is to continue to report
dead bird sightings to their
local health department. The
local health department will
determine if those dead birds
should be transported to ODA
for pathologic examination.
kill 85 to 95 percent of mos
quitoes in their natural habitat
after two to three days. The
magnesium will not harm the
water.
ARS, the U.S. Department
of Agriculture’s chief scientific
research agency, is seeking
partners to license the technol
ogy and bring it to the market.
C\o\omd Wkk
Vi cres mm
EQUINE BLANKET Wfl
LAUNDRY & REPAIR
HORSE BOARDING • LESSONS
876 W. Main Street Phone (717) 354-9700
New Holland, PA 17557 Fax (717) 354-7263
USDA Needs Help From
Horse Owners With
West Nile Vaccinated Horses
STATE COLLEGE (Centre
Co.) Veterinarians have
been asked by the Pennsylva
nia Department of Agriculture
to help determine the immune
response of West Nile Virus
vaccinated horses.
The Fort Dodge equine vac
cine for protection against dis
ease from WNV infection was
made available to Pennsylva
nia veterinarians in mid-Sep
tember of 2002. Very little in
formation concerning the
immune response in vaccinat
ed horses is available at this
time.
The Pennsylvania Depart
ment of Agriculture is request
ing that veterinarians ask cli
ents with vaccinated horses to
allow blood samples to be
taken between
seven and 21
days after the
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I 1
second vaccine dose. These
samples should be submitted
in chilled red-top tubes to the
Pennsylvania Veterinary Lab
oratory for antibody testing.
At this time, there are no
charges for shipping and test
ing of WNV samples. The
dates of vaccinations should
be included in the box with
the samples. If your veterinar
ian asked for your help in this
study please consider partici
pating.
The ELISA test is used to
detect IgG antibodies in vacci
nated horses within a seven to
21 day time period. Results of
testing of vaccinated horses
will be submitted to the
USDA. Horse owners will not
be sent the results.
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