Eastern Equine Encephalitis Positive in East Texas

My Vet just sent me this Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) notice, so I thought I would pass it on. The TAHC recently received confirmation from the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory (TVMDL) of Texas horses testing positive for Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). The infected horses are located in: Newton, Orange, Liberty, Jasper and Jefferson counties. To date, there are a total of five positive EEE cases in East Texas.

TAHC officials remind equine owners to consult with their private veterinary practitioner regarding vaccinating their horses against mosquito-borne illnesses such as Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), Western Equine Encephalitis (WEE), Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis (VEE), and West Nile Virus.

Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) is a mosquito-borne viral disease of all equine species. Infected horses may suddenly die or show progressive central nervous system disorders. Symptoms may include unsteadiness, erratic behavior and a marked loss of coordination. The death rate for animals infected with EEE is 75-100%.

Western equine encephalomyelitis (WEE) is a viral disease that mainly affects horses; mosquitoes primarily transmit this disease. Similar to EEE, WEE is characterized by central nervous system dysfunction. About 20 to 50% of horses infected with WEE die.

Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) is a viral disease that affects horses and causes illness in humans. It has not been seen in the United States for many years (however, a recent outbreak of VEE occurred in Mexico). Mosquitoes most often transmit the disease after the insects have acquired the virus from birds and rodents. Humans also are susceptible when bitten by an infected mosquito, but direct horse-to-horse or horse-to-human transmission is very rare. Symptoms in horses vary widely, but all result from the degeneration of the brain. Early signs include fever, depression and appetite loss. The mortality rate for VEE is 40 to 80%.

"Vaccines are available for neurologic diseases such as EEE and WEE. As part of routine equine health care, we strongly recommend that equine owners consult with their local veterinarian to discuss an appropriate vaccination program to protect their horses against mosquito-borne diseases such as these," said Dr. Andy Schwartz, TAHC Assistant Executive Director.

For more information on mosquito borne diseases visit the American Association of Equine Practitioners.

For information on TVMDL's equine neurologic disease testing, visit the Texas A&M Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory site, or call 888-646-5623.

Founded in 1893, the Texas Animal Health Commission works to protect the health of all Texas livestock, including: cattle, swine, poultry, sheep, goats, equine animals and exotic livestock.

Tack Tip - Clean Your Felt Saddle Pad

I have wrote about cleaning felt saddle pads awhile back, but it is a good topic for hot weather riding as the horse's sweat more and those saddle pads, wool felt, sheep skin or even the Neoprene rubber ones accumulate more dried salt from horse sweat and other gunk a lot easier.

While Neoprene is easier to clean, I just don't like Neoprene saddle pads or cinchas for that matter. The exception for me on a synthetic pad is the pad available from SaddleSkin because it removes the main objection on Neoprene pads and that is heat buildup. And while there are pads with holes, intended to release heat or prevent heat build up, I just don't think they work very well.

So if you are one of those Neoprene saddle pad user, you may want to give SaddleSkin a look - I think with it's air channels it allows much more air flow and does reduce heat buildup, as well as absorb or attenuate trauma (impact) to the horse's back, it also keeps the saddle from slipping when the horse is really sweated up.

Having said all that, I pretty much exclusively use felt pads. Previously I used a wide variety of felt pads including the Impact Gel pads, but nowdays I use CSI pads. CSI offers a rubber curry brush to use to brush and clean their pads however it doesn't work very well for me as it's not stiff enough to scrap the dried sweat and hair from the pad.

After a ride, I'll let the felt pad air dry, then usually as I'm saddling up for the next ride, I'll slap the pad across the sides of the trailer or a tie rail to loosen up the dirt and junk, then lay the pad upside down on my horses' backs or a saddle stand and lightly scrub the dried hair and sweat from the pad using a metal curry brush. If you brush too hard you will tear up the felt, so brush lightly using the teeth or flat edge of the curry brush. I'll run my hand over the pad to ensure there aren't any crusty, sharp patches that can make the weight of a saddle and rider bearing on the horse's back uncomfortable, then I'll take a soft brush and brush away any loose dirt, salt or hair.

There are several products that are offered to help clean felt saddle pads. While I'm sure they work to clean and disinfect, I haven't used any soap type product on my felt pads in probably 10 years.

If you haven't cleaned your pad lately, take a look at it and see if you would want a patch of dried sweat (basically salt) being rubbed across your back. You can see the sweat (salt) buildup on the pad in the picture at right. If the salt build up if not cleaned would be running on the horse's back and loins when the weight of the saddle and rider is applied and more so as the saddle normally twists somewhat during riding.

One more point is that if you can afford to do so, have a saddle pad to each horse rather than use the same pad for multiple horses. This pays off not just to reduce any skin contamination from horse to horse, but also allows you to have the best pad for fit on each horse.