News from the "Swat-Team"

Last month I published an article about WNV and preventive measures to take in order to avoid infection.

The feedback from "The Green Equestrian -Community" was great and so was the input.

It makes me happy to see, that so many of you take interest in this blog and help to make it a unique resource for equestrians around the world by providing usefull information.

So here are the trophies for you :-))
Below I have listed some of the input from "Swat-Team-Members" and I hope this will be of help to our readers.


Debbie Solano, http://tulsarealestateweb.com/new_site/index.php:
"I heard another thing on the radio that here in Oklahoma it is crows that first succumb to West Nile Virus. They are a kind of bellwhether. Therefore, when ranchers see dead crows on their place, they know they have a serious problem. If they see crows alive, then the chances are good that WNV is not a problem yet. "

Nicole Musanno, http://www.gowestequestrian.blogspot.com/:
"I worked with Pfizer on sponsoring a horse show I was working on and they have a product for fly control. I guess its effectivity is supposed to be amazing, unfortunately the barn manager was not interested in using it. As for mosquitos, there is still nothing I guess. Sad, because while I have known no horses affected, I have known MANY people hit with the disease, including my mother. We think I was affected too but I was one of those lucky few who showed next to no side affects. But my friends and family, I feel for them and it was a long hard recovery. "

Maryanne Gabbani,http://miloflamingo.blogspot.com/:"Here in Egypt, it has been endemic since at least the 1930's and most of our horses and many of our humans have had it without ever being aware, since the symptoms are those of a mild flu. I don't vaccinate for WNV here but I do work at keeping my horses in the best of health. Garlic and onions, by the way, are not particularly good for horses unless adminstered on the outside of the body. They both can cause Heinz' anemia, as they do in dogs. There are some marvelous machines that run off of gas cylinders and they give off a stream of carbon dioxide to attract mosquitoes and then there is a small vaccum that sucks the hapless insects into a net to be disposed of later. I've seen one in use at a neighbour's place here and it does a very good job. They are made for outdoor areas. Don't know that they'd help with flies, though."
Thomas Voss, Greater Nashville Area:
"Along with all the regular maintenace of vaccinations, removal of anything holding standing water and using a good insecticide spray. I use a small "bug zapper" outside the barn that seems to work really well."

Rose Wallace , RWR Horses LLC :"Our preventative measures include vaccinations (2x year), using Pyranha, removing standing water, etc. Just because AZ is hot and dry, though, does not mean that we are out of the danger zone; we still have to minimize the potential risk."

Chad Mendell, www.TheHorse.com :
"Hi Patricia, good overview on your blog. One correction, there are three FDA-approved vaccines available in the U.S. (Fort Dodge, Merial, and Intervet). We have a Webcast posted on www.TheHorse.com with two of the leading WNV researchers if anyone is interested. You can watch it here: http://www.thehorse.com/Video.aspx?vID=14"


Thank you again for your input !!!



Happy Holidays