Maureen Long, DVM, PhD, Dipl. ACVIM, of the University of Florida (UF), spoke about West Nile virus (WNV) protective strategies for horse owners and veterinarians at a March 7 meeting in Lexington, Ky. Veterinarians and public officials gathered at the University of Kentucky’s Gluck Equine Research Center for a workshop designed to educate local practitioners about the disease.

Long and other practitioners in Florida have had considerable WNV experience since 2001 because the mosquito-borne disease thrives in the state’s warm climate and nearly year-round mosquito population. “Without mosquito abatement, control of these diseases is very difficult,” she stressed.

According to a study published this year, the house sparrow is theoretically the best reservoir for WNV. The same researcher found that the virus can be transmitted orally from bird to bird in crows, magpies, and chickens. (WNV also can be transmitted through fecal material).

New WNV concerns that Long anticipates are infection through transfusions (blood and plasma) and vertical transmission (disease passage from parent to offspring in utero), both of which have been exhibited in humans. (A possible case of vertical transmission occurred in a Kentucky broodmare