The Kentucky State Veterinarian’s office has announced that a horse from Metcalfe County has tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV). This is the sixth equine WNV case confirmed in the commonwealth this year.

In a Sept. 9 statement Kentucky Equine Programs manager E.S. "Rusty" Ford said the case was confirmed Sept 8.

Ford said the 13-year-old Tennessee Walking Horse gelding began exhibiting signs of disease on Sept. 2, including a head tilt, front-limb proprioceptive (a horse’s awareness of where his feet are) deficits, and some ataxia (incoordination). On Sept. 8, the attending veterinarian said the horse was stable with some motor improvement noted. The horse has no WNV vaccination history, Ford said.

West Nile is transmitted to horses via bites from infected mosquitoes. Clinical signs for WNV include flulike signs, where the horse seems mildly anorexic and depressed; fine and coarse muscle and skin fasciculation; hyperesthesia (hypersensitivity to touch and sound); changes in mentation (mentality), when horses look like they are daydreaming or "just not with it"; occasional somnolence (drowsiness); propulsive walking (driving or pushing forward, often without control); and "spinal" signs, including asymmetrical weakness. Some horses show asymmetrical or symmetrical ataxia. Equine mortality rate can be as high as 30-40%