Texas reports on equine Vesicular Stomatitis cases
On May 28, 2014, the Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) announced that the nation’s first case of Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) this year involving five horses had been confirmed in Kinney County, TX (southeast of Del Rio.)
Vesicular stomatitis virus/CDC
Two additional cases of VS in horses in Hidalgo County in South Texas were announced last week. One case involved two horses approximately 24 miles northwest of Edinburg. The other case was confirmed in one horse three miles northwest of Edinburg.
On June 17, two new cases of VS were confirmed in three horses in San Patricio County in South Texas. One case involved two horses located approximately 7 ½ miles southeast of Mathis. The other case is located approximately 7 miles southeast of Mathis. Both VS cases tested positive for the New Jersey serotype.
The newly identified infected premises are currently under quarantine by the TAHC. Affected horses will be monitored by regulatory veterinarians while under quarantine. Premises are eligible for quarantine release 21 days after all lesions have healed. There is no known exposure to other horses around the state, or at any equine events.
According to TAHC, Vesicular stomatitis is a viral disease that primarily affects horses and cattle. VS also can affect sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas, swine, deer and some other species, including bobcats, raccoons and monkeys. Humans can also become infected with the disease when handling affected animals, but this is a rare event.
VS normally has an incubation period of two to eight days before the infected animal develops blisters that swell and burst, leaving painful sores. The virus can be transmitted through direct contact with infected animals or by bloodfeeding insects. Infected animals also can spread the virus when their saliva or the fluid from ruptured blisters contaminates feed, water or hay shared with herd mates. For more infectious disease news and information, visit and “like” the Infectious Disease News Facebook page
[…] of Agriculture. Previous positive cases of vesicular stomatitis in 2014 have been diagnosed in the southern area of Texas near the Mexico border and more recently in Bastrop and Travis Counties just south of Austin, […]