Delaware Reports First Equine WNV Case of 2017

The 11-year-old Quarter Horse mare from Kent County, which was not currently vaccinated against WNV, was euthanized.
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The Delaware State Veterinarian’s Office reported Aug. 15 that it has confirmed that state’s first case of West Nile virus (WNV) in a horse in 2017.

The affected horse, an 11-year-old Quarter Horse mare residing in Kent County, began showing signs of weakness in all four limbs on Aug. 6. The mare lost the ability to stand and was euthanized on Aug. 9. Samples were submitted to the Delaware Public Health Laboratory on Aug. 10, which confirmed the diagnosis of WNV on August 14. The affected mare was not currently vaccinated against WNV.

This is the first confirmed case of WNV in a horse in Delaware since 2015. However, the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC) Mosquito Control Section, in conjunction with the Delaware Division of Public Health Laboratory and the Department of Agriculture, announced two detections of WNV and one detection of another potentially deadly disease, Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE), in the DNREC’s sentinel chickens, and detection of WNV in a wild crow, in July and August. So far in Delaware this year, no cases of WNV or EEE have been found in humans.

West Nile virus and EEE are diseases transmitted to horses via bites from infected mosquitoes. Humans can also be infected with WNV and EEE, but transmission requires a mosquito bite and the virus cannot be directly transmitted between horses, or between horses and people

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