Fighting West Nile Virus
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- Richie Industries Blogvertorial
West Nile Virus is a mosquito-born virus that causes encephalitis and/or meningitis, and horses are susceptible to infection. Since the outbreak of West Nile virus in 1999 there have been tens of thousands confirmed cases of horses infected in the United States and Canada. Of those, approximately 30 percent die or must be destroyed, and another 17 percent suffer from long-term related debilitation. Due to the high mortality rate, health officials have been warning people to find any sources of standing water and remove it, so the mosquitoes will not be able to reproduce. One possible source is the large open stock tanks that livestock, including horses, drink from.