Three properties still quarantined over VS outbreak

One horse property in DeBaca County, New Mexico, has been released from quarantine, leaving one property in Texas and two in New Mexico still under lockdown.

A total of seven cases of the viral disease have been identified.

On June 10, 2009, the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the finding of vesicular stomatitis (New Jersey serotype) in a single horse on a property in Starr County, Texas. The first case was confirmed in New Mexico on June 22.

A horse with vesicular stomatitis shows blisters in the mouth area.

Many states have imposed movement restrictions on livestock from Texas and New Mexico as a result of the outbreak.

Vesicular stomatitis occurs in sporadic annual outbreaks in the US western states, usually in the summer months and particularly along waterways and in valleys.

Its distribution varies from year to year, with the number of states and affected premises in each state highly variable.

The disease can affect horses, most ruminants, pigs and other species, occasionally including humans.

It is believed that spread involves biting insects, mechanical transmission and animal movement, and possibly other undiscovered factors.

Symptoms begin with blister-like lesions on the lips, tongue, dental pad, gums, nostrils, coronary bands and teats.

Oral lesions often cause excessive salivation and food consumption is often decreased. The surface of the lesions breaks down to create raw ulcerated sores that are very painful and lead to lameness and marked decrease in food and water intake.

The teats can become raw and painful, making the animals unable to be milked or nursed.

In humans, the disease usually causes flu-like symptoms without the skin and mucosal lesions seen in livestock.