MADISON, Wis. -- The death of a 1-year-old horse in Dodge County is being blamed on a mosquito-borne illness.

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The illness is called Eastern Equine Encephalomyelitis -- also known as "Triple E" -- and this case marks the first in more five years. The virus is found in wild birds, and can be deadly for horses when transmitted through mosquito bites, WISC-TV reported.

Sixty-seven horses state-wide tested positive for the viral disease in 2001; 42 died.

"A major concern is that this particular virus also infects humans," said state veterinarian Robert Ehlenfeldt. "It doesn't transmit from horses to people, but could be transmitted to people by the mosquito bite."

State officials are urging horse owners to take early precautions to prevent another outbreak.

The state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection said horse owners can prevent the mosquito-borne disease all together through a yearly vaccine and booster shot.

Mortality tends to happen in young or elderly horses in mid-summer or early fall, according to officials with the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.

"They decide to wait until later in the summer to vaccinate or not vaccinate at all because they don't think it's a problem and that's when we start seeing it again," said Ehlenfeldt.

Bug and mosquito control is everyone's job at the 50-acre Meinperde Farm in Cottage Grove. Every year, all 25 horses receive a vaccine to guard against Triple E.

"It's very easy. Usually you just pinch the skin, stick it in," said horse trainer Nicole Ledvina, as vaccinated a horse.

"For me, spending hundred-dollars a year to vaccinate is nothing compared to losing an animal that could be worth not only part of your family (but) $3,000, $10,000 to 15,000," said Ledvina about the farm's commitment to the yearly vaccine.

According to the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, the symptoms in horses are typically depression, appetite loss, drooping eyelids and lower lip, aimless wandering and circling, blindness and sometimes paralysis. The illnesses symptoms in humans are usually flu-like symptoms.

There's no vaccine available for humans and no cure. Health care officials said that the infection must run its course.

For more information, call DATCP at 608-224-4872.

For More Info:

Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection News Release
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection's Brochure On West Nile Virus In Horses (PDF Format)