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Tests On Dead Horse Reveal West Nile Virus

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Tests On Dead Horse Reveal West Nile Virus

By Steve Bigham

The horse that died in Newtown last month was suffering from the West Nile Virus, according to local officials, who received the news from a state lab late last week.

But the town has no plans to spray. With the onset of the cooler fall weather, very few mosquitoes are still around these days, and the threat of humans contracting the virus has diminished.

Health District Director Mark Cooper admitted this week that the experts still do not know a lot about the West Nile Virus, although most believe it is here to stay. Most indigenous birds or mosquitoes that have contracted the virus will die off.

Next year, however, health officials suspect the virus will repeat its pattern of migration across the Northeast during the late summer months.

Six or more dead crows found in Newtown also tested positive for the West Nile Virus in recent weeks.

Last month’s news that a local veterinarian euthanized a Newtown horse suffering from viral symptoms raised the level of concern on horse farms around town. Dr Ned Schankman of the Connecticut Equine Practice in Newtown was forced to put down the horse September 21 after it showed signs of progressive neurological deterioration and loss of balance. The horse had been boarded in Newtown, although the exact location has never been disclosed.

The fact that the horse died from the West Nile Virus was of particular concern since the same mosquito that bites horses also bites humans.

There is the possibility that the horse may not have been bitten in Newtown. Cindy Miller of the Newtown Bridle Lands Association (NBLA) informed town officials that the horse had been traveling to different events throughout the state before becoming sick. The horse may have been bitten elsewhere, she said.

“The horse may have been traveling 50 miles away. You can’t tell,” Mrs Miller said last week.

On two occasions this past summer, town highway crews traveled the streets of town dropping donut-shaped larvicide into catch basins in an effort to stop the spread of mosquitoes. According to Mr Cooper, catch basins along roadways are notorious breeding areas for mosquitoes. Also, the catch basins are connected to most of the local brooks, streams, and ponds.

First Selectman Herb Rosenthal has suggested a public meeting to get a sense of how residents feel about spraying, not for this year, but for years to come when the West Nile Virus returns.

Last year, traces of the West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis were discovered for the first time in the Western Hemisphere in and around New York City, where six people died during the late summer months. It was also found in two species of mosquitoes trapped in Greenwich and in the brain tissue of many crows in coastal Connecticut from Greenwich to Madison.

The West Nile Virus is a mosquito-borne viral infection that can cause inflammation of the brain. It is named after the West Nile district of Uganda where the virus was first isolated in 1937. The elderly are most susceptible to this virus. West Nile is spread to humans by the bite of infected mosquitoes. A mosquito is infected by biting a bird that carries the virus.

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