West Nile suspected in horse deaths
<br>
<br> Associated Press
<br> August 15, 2002
<br> LINTON, Ind. -- Officials say West Nile virus may the be the cause
<br> of a large number of sick horses in a southwestern Indiana county.
<br> As of Tuesday, about 20 horses in Daviess County had died and about
<br> 100 more were sick.
<br> "We're not 100 percent
<br> certain yet, but preliminary results
<br> point to West Nile," Odon
<br> veterinarian John Royal said.
<br> Royal said several
<br> laboratories are doing tests on the
<br> dead animals, but that final results
<br> to determine if the horses had the
<br> West Nile virus have not yet come
<br> back.
<br> Calls started coming in about
<br> sick horses two or three weeks
<br> ago, Royal said. Royal said horses
<br> of all ages and breeds appear to
<br> have been affected by the illness,
<br> but that the cases he has seen are concentrated within about a 10-mile radius.
<br> Symptoms of West Nile in horses include lethargy, loss of appetite and
<br> stiffness.
<br> The State Board of Animal Health urged horse owners to precautions to
<br> protect their animals against mosquito-borne diseases, including empty
<br> standing water sources.
<br> The federal Centers for Disease Control says West Nile is spread by
<br> mosquitoes from infected birds to humans, who can then develop encephalitis.
<br> Humans cannot pass the virus to one another.
<br> Last week, state health officials confirmed Indiana's first human case of
<br> West Nile virus.
<br> State officials have found the virus in dead birds and mosquito groups this
<br> year, with a total of 14 counties having been confirmed as positive for West
<br> Nile virus.
<br> The mosquito-borne virus has been linked to seven deaths and a total 85
<br> human cases this year in Louisiana, the worst since the virus first appeared in
<br> this country in 1999.
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