California, whose horse population has been hit by West Nile virus harder than any other state in the nation this season, has about one month to go before it can expect a decline in the number of cases.
Every state in the 48 contiguous United States has now experienced a taste of West Nile virus since it first was detected in the Western Hemisphere in 1999.
West Nile virus has been found in two horses at Charles Town Races and Slots in West Virginia, the Associated Press reported.
West Nile virus is steadily spreading across the country, having been detected in at least 33 states so far this year. Horses in 15 states have been infected with the virus in 2003.
A dead crow in the York Region of Ontario, Canada, has undergone testing and is presumed positive for West Nile virus. It is the first presumed positive of the virus for the region.
The United States Department of Agriculture has issued a full license to Fort Dodge Animal Health for its West Nile virus vaccine based on the results of efficacy studies completed and submitted to the USDA.
Two more horses were found to have tested positive for West Nile virus in Marion County, Fla., the week of Sept. 9, which brings the total number of confirmed cases to 16 for 2002. Last year, there were 66 cases.
In the wake of a positive West Nile Virus test to a Canadian standardbred horse, almost 50 Thoroughbred shuttle stallions were released from Australia's major quarantine station outside Sydney on the morning of Aug. 30.
The wait for more than 40 Thoroughbred shuttle stallions at Sydney's quarantine station will continue until samples from the standardbred Astreos are tested in his homeland Canada.
Shuttle stallions at Sydney's quarantine station are awaiting clearance after a virus scare. Results of tests conducted on blood samples taken from an unnamed Canadian harness-horse at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory at Geelong, Victoria, are expected within 24 hours.
A Thoroughbred yearling from the Lexington area has died of West Nile Virus. It is the first time this year West Nile has been identified in a horse in Kentucky, according to the state Department of Agriculture's office of the state veterinarian.
Health officials charting the spread of West Nile virus across the United States project that Texas west to the Rocky Mountains will be affected by the virus this year.
The Kentucky State Veterinarian's office is investigating an unconfirmed case of West Nile virus at Churchill Downs. According to Churchill Downs, the horse that is being investigated as the possible victim of West Nile virus was Rocket Express, a 2-year-old with one career victory.
The Ohio Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Department of Agriculture have collected 143 blood samples from horses in Lake County, Ohio, to determine if the horses have been exposed to West Nile virus. The first confirmed incidence of the virus in a bird was found in that area.
West Nile virus has been confirmed in a dead crow in Jefferson County, Fla. The crow was submitted for testing on June 18, and results were released July 6.
West Nile made its Western Hemisphere debut in the summer and fall of 1999, attacking birds, horses, and humans. Twenty-five equine positives were confirmed in 1999 in the Northeast, followed by 59 positives in 2000.
The National Veterinary Services Laboratory recently confirmed two additional equine clinical cases of West Nile virus (WNV), one in New Jersey and the other in New York. The New Jersey case involved a 4-month-old colt, the youngest horse ever known to have developed clinical illness due to WNV in the U.S.
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