Currently only four vaccines are labeled as ‘core’. Eastern/Western Equine Encephalomyelitis (EEE/WEE), Rabies, Tetanus, and West Nile Virus. Eastern and Western Encephalomyelitis is transmitted by mosquitos to horses from wild birds or rodents, which are the reservoirs for the disease. Any horse that is traveling in North America should get this vaccine. It is readily available, and exposure to EEE and WEE can never be fully eliminated. In general the horse will only have to receive a yearly booster of this vaccine. To scare you a little bit there is a high mortality rate. WEE has a mortality rate of 50%, and EEE has a 90% mortality rate. Once the disease is contracted there is very little that a horse owner can do. Mostly it consists of just managing secondary infections that can occur. What is even scarier is that although rare, humans can contract this nasty
Currently only four vaccines are labeled as ‘core’. Eastern/Western Equine Encephalomyelitis (EEE/WEE), Rabies, Tetanus, and West Nile Virus. Eastern and Western Encephalomyelitis is transmitted by mosquitos to horses from wild birds or rodents, which are the reservoirs for the disease. Any horse that is traveling in North America should get this vaccine. It is readily available, and exposure to EEE and WEE can never be fully eliminated. In general the horse will only have to receive a yearly booster of this vaccine. To scare you a little bit there is a high mortality rate. WEE has a mortality rate of 50%, and EEE has a 90% mortality rate. Once the disease is contracted there is very little that a horse owner can do. Mostly it consists of just managing secondary infections that can occur. What is even scarier is that although rare, humans can contract this nasty