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> Joane Pappas White
> ... Throughout the year, I was surprised to see how
> little of the information actually known to CDC or the scientific community
> was being shared with the horse community---particularly our vets.


Funny--I certainly haven't felt that the CDC was hiding any information 
from myself or my colleagues.

> people were still being told that
> mosquitoes were the source of infection and that vaccinating the horses was
> recommended.


Mosquitoes *are* the primary source. Vaccination *is* recommended.

> ...  What has not been addressed by any of the
> vets I have talked to, and that is dozens of them, is why are we using a
> vaccine that is currently estimated to be more than 10% effective against
> the mutated virus?
Could you supply a reference for  this 10%  estimate?  I'd be interested.
I am no fan of Ft. Dodge in particular, or the pharmaceutical industry in 
general, but I think the vaccine has a higher level of efficacy than 10%.


> Every time I pick up a new equine magazine and see the push to vaccinate, I
> shudder.  The WNV vaccine has had some serious reactions and if the horse is
> already exposed, those reactions can be fatal.  Sooooooo, why has there been
> no discussion of the risk vs. the benefit of the vaccine?

Funny. I've seen a number of discussions on the subject.


> Even more important to me as a horse owner is the issue of other methods of
> spread of the virus and the risk I might be creating for my horse if I
> travel with him.  Additionally, while we are being told publicly that the
> virus is being spread by 37+ varieties of mosquitoes, the CDC has been
> telling its government contacts that any of the dead birds (the vector for
> the disease) should be removed from the proximity of animals and people. The
> death rate among the bird population is huge and it appears that hundreds of
> thousands of birds, or their remains, may be contributing to the spread of
> the virus.  For over a year, we have been told the virus is spread only by
> mosquitoes---Now go to the CDC Website
> (<http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/q>http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/q&a.htm) 
> and look at the newly
> update information on Transmission---realize that this information is more
> than 8 months old and is just now being released to the public.

OK--I went there and looked, and I saw nothing  to indicate that there was 
a risk from dead birds. As for the other methods of transmission,  they 
have been widely reported in the general press here. And since my horses 
are unlikely to be the recipients of trans[lanted organs, the risk to them 
from that source is negligible.




> If you read all of this updated information, you will see the scope of this
> virus.  Also keep in mind that it has been spreading all winter in regions
> with freezing temperatures and no mosquitoes---(CDC Website map of South
> Dakota--ask yourself how the entire state went positive for animals and
> humans in October through March when only one county reports infected

> mosquitoes).


Likely the dates in question are those in which the infection was 
*verified*--which means that laboratory work confirmed what may well have 
been a much earlier occurring  clinical case.

I'm perfectly willing to believe that the existing vaccine is not the best 
that we *can* have, but at present, it is the only one we  *do* have. 
Development is underway on  newer versions, but there is a definite lag 
time between  development and availability.

Do I think every horse  everywhere in the US is at high risk 
of  contracting WNV ? Not hardly.
Do I vaccinate my own stock and recommend it to folks in my area? You bet. 
And I also try to eliminate standing water, use fly spray, and try to make 
sure that my stock is generally healthy and therefore more likely 
to  survive contact with evil bugs.

Even so, I'm still very confused as to exactly what you were getting at 
with your post--are we supposed to think that  horses  are at risk from 
dead birds, that  there is a government conspiracy to hude the true vector 
of WNV, that the vaccine manufacturer deliberately produced a useless 
vaccine, or what?
             --CMNewell, DVM 


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