As of May 21, eastern equine encephalitis has been noted as the probable cause of the deaths of two horses in Louisiana, one in St. James Parish and the other in Lafourche Parish, according to Bob Odom, Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry.

Seven probable cases of the disease, often called sleeping sickness, have been reported to the state veterinarian in the last two weeks. The infected horses are in Lafourche and St. James Parishes, with the exception of one case reported in St. Mary Parish.

Since there is no cure for sleeping sickness, Odom is urging horse owners to vaccinate their animals in order to prevent the disease. “Sleeping sickness is a very preventable disease, but often horse owners wait until it’s too late. Now is the time to have horses vaccinated before we get too far into summer and true mosquito season,” Odom said.

Humans can contract the illness, but not through horses. A mosquito must bite an infected bird and then bite a human for the disease to spread, according to Department of Agriculture and Forestry State Veterinarian Dr. Maxwell Lea