Equine Encephalitis Viruses Equine encephalitis viruses, including the Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEE), Western equine encephalitis virus (WEE) and Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEE), are transmitted by mosquitoes. As with West Nile Virus (WNV), the reservoir hosts for the encephalitis viruses are primarily wild birds. Human infection with encephalitis viruses often causes symptoms such as fever, flu-like illness, muscle pain, vomiting and neurologic signs including seizures and convulsions. Infection with equine encephalitis viruses can be fatal. Infection with any of the equine encephalitis viruses is a reportable disease – this means that health care providers and laboratories that diagnose cases of laboratory-confirmed encephalitis are required to report those cases to their local or state health departments, which in turn report the cases to the CDC. Although dogs can become infected with the viruses (particularly VEE), they do not usually develop illness. Horses infected with an equine encephalitis virus usually develop signs of disease within 7 days. Clinical signs include fever, depression, loss of appetite, behavioral changes, trouble swallowing or whinnying, head pressing (pressing their head against walls, trees, other horses, etc.), inability to stand, blindness, circling, in-coordination, aggression, seizures and death. Fox Run Equine Center
Posted on: Thu, 10 Jul 2014 11:00:00 +0000
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