Louisiana Agriculture Secretary Mike Strain says concerns about encephalitis and West Nile virus are up given the pre-Ida rainfall, as well as the rains and ponding of water from the storm itself. “Before Hurricane Ida we were seeing an increase in the level of the encephalitis viruses in the environment,” said Strain. He says there’s been a two-fold increase in the number of horses getting sick with Equine encephalitis.
Strain says the ongoing surge in mosquitoes will lead to other problems. “With that surge in mosquitoes, and there’s generally going to be a surge in the encephalitis virus, we found in small mammals, rodents and reptiles,” according to the agriculture secretary.”
Strain says the various hosts can allow mosquitoes to spread the virus to horses and humans. “The mosquitoes get it, and they can bite horses, they can bite people and they can bite pets,” says Strain.
Strain is advising owners to make sure their horses are vaccinated, and if you haven’t boosted your horses within six months, you need to booster them with a multi-valent for eastern, western encephalitis and West Nile. As for people, he says they need to do what they can to avoid contact with mosquitoes, cleaning out anything that may be holding water on your property.
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