Mosquitoes could be a big problem in our area this summer. That could lead to serious health issues and not just for humans. Local veterinarians are concerned about Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a mosquito-borne virus that's nearly always deadly to horses.
At least two cases of the disease have already been diagnosed in eastern South Carolina this summer.
Grand Strand horse owner Sherry Singleton knows all too well about encephalitis. One of her foals died from the disease a few years ago.
"We had a little stall with IV bags hanging. We would get the temperature, get his fever down and it would spike back up again, and that went on for about four days," Singleton recalled.
Singleton advises fellow owners to have their horses vaccinated for encephalitis at least twice a year.
Dr. Karen Bolten, of the Myrtle Beach Equine Clinic recently treated a horse for the virus on a farm near Galivants Ferry. She agrees once-a-year vaccination is not enough, because in this area, mosquitoes don't always die off over the winter.
"If you don't vaccinate (horses) as frequently as they need to be, which is about every six months or so, their immune system isn't really functioning the way it needs to be to protect them against it," Dr. Bolten said.
The horse she treated last month survived the virus, which is rare. Dr. Bolten said more than 90 percent of infected horses do not survive.
Though the disease is preventable, local veterinarians say it matters who is doing the vaccinating. They say horse owners shouldn't try to do it themselves.
"You're giving products to some untrained people and asking them to do it correctly, which may happen or may not happen, so we kind of encourage people to have a professional to take care of that," said Dr. Gwynn Hardee of Meadowland Animal Services of Loris.
Dr. Hardee said it's more important than ever to vaccinate this summer. The wet spring produced more mosquitoes and the weak economy means some horse owners may try to save money and not get their animals vaccinated.
"So we have maybe a larger unprotected population, and a lot more mosquitoes, so those two coming together, we may have a problem," Dr. Hardee said.
A horse can go downhill very quickly with the virus. Dr. Bolten said the horse she treated went from fairly healthy to comatose within a few hours.
Though one horse in Horry County survived the virus this summer, a four-month old foal in Marion County died of the disease last month.
