Health officials charting the spread of West Nile virus across the United States project that “Texas and at least up to the Rocky Mountains will be affected” by the virus in 2002, said Dr. Kristen Bernard, assistant director of the Arbovirus Laboratories at the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health. Bernard spoke during the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Managers’ Club’s meeting April 2 in Lexington.

More than one million doses of a West Nile vaccine developed by Fort Dodge Animal Health have been distributed as far west as California, which has not yet had a reported case of the virus. Fort Dodge is compiling data on the efficacy of the vaccine, which received its United States Department of Agriculture conditional license in August 2001, and is currently in phase three of safety and efficacy testing.

Early data is showing that at two to three weeks following a second application, the killed virus vaccine affords protection against the virus for eight months. Initial application should be followed by a first booster four weeks later, and subsequent boosters are recommended at six-month intervals. It is also recommended that horses be vaccinated prior to travel to states with virus.

Other preventive measures include mosquito control through insecticide use and eliminating standing water, including discarding of any possible water receptacles such as old tires. Carcasses of birds, particularly crows, which have died from an unknown cause, should be taken to a nearby testing lab, to test for West Nile virus. Disposable gloves and other protective clothing should be worn by anyone handling bird carcasses