Vets Confirm Idaho
WNV transmission occurs when infected mosquitoes feed on animals, as well as humans, after having fed on infected birds. | Photo: iStock
On July 26, Idaho Department of Agriculture (ISDA) veterinarians confirmed the state’s first 2019 case of West Nile virus in Payette County. One of two exposed equids, a suckling donkey filly, first experienced clinical signs on July 22. Being just 2 ½ months old, the filly had not yet received vaccination against WNV.

“Vaccination is shown to be efficacious in, if not preventing, then certainly lessening the severity of the infection and the adult horse’s recovery time,” said Bill Barton, DVM, Idaho’s State Veterinarian/Administrator.

The last confirmed equine WNV case in Idaho involved an 11-year-old Quarter Horse mare in Bingham County in September 2018. The Idaho Department of Agriculture confirmed five equine cases of WNV in 2018: one each in Bingham, Canyon, Clark, Jerome, and Owyhee counties. No human cases have been confirmed in Idaho in 2019.

WNV transmission occurs when infected mosquitoes feed on animals, as well as humans, after having fed on infected birds

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