b'A look at current trendsin mosquito-borne diseasesaffecting horsesTiny NANCY S. LOVING, DVMTerrorsR ecent news reports describe accelerated wildlife spe-cies loss because of significant changes in habitat and food sources. But one creature that seems to be thriv-ing is one of the worlds most dangerous: the mosqui-to. Mosquito-borne disease affects all mammals, with some of the most virulent infecting horse and human similarly: Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE), Western equine encephalomy-elitis (WEE), and West Nile virus (WNV).The good news is horses cant spread EEE, WEE, or WNV to other horses or humans, and vice versa. Female mosquitoes are the intermediate or bridge vectors that cause infection. Birds (and sometimes rodents) carry the viruses but dont always show clinical signs. Mosquitoes bite the birds and pick up the virus; then those carrier mosquitoes pass the virus on to horses, humans, or other birds when they take their next blood meal. People and horses are considered dead-end hosts because they dont have enough infective virus in their blood to be transferred through mosquitoes or body fluids to other humans or animals.Lets examine recent trends with these three encephalitidesdiseases causing brain inflammationso you can understand how to best protect your horse.SHELLEY PAULSONTheHorse.com|The HorseApril 202017'