Deadly West Nile Virus Has Been Discovered in a Missouri Horse
You have likely heard of West Nile virus in mosquitos and sometimes people. What you might not hear very often is West Nile virus in people, but that's exactly what's been discovered in one Oregon County, Missouri horse.
I saw this report from Equus Magazine documenting the case of a horse in Oregon County, Missouri having West Nile virus. If you're not familiar with that county, it's located in the extreme southern part of Missouri.
As the USDA mentions, West Nile virus results in fever and different levels of neurological issues. It's especially problematic in horses as those who get the virus and have severe symptoms have what they estimate is a 35% mortality rate.
If there's any good news involving this Missouri horse with West Nile virus, it's that it is not contagious and passed to humans or other horses from someone/something that's infected. It is transmitted by mosquitos.
The concern is that the mosquito population in Missouri now has this virus and we could see an increase in human and/or horse cases in the months ahead. Time will tell.
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