Vesicular stomatitis affects multiple states in 2005

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The Department of Agriculture's Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health reported Nov. 20 that 583 equids and 194 cattle tested positive for vesicular stomatitis since the first case in 2005 was identified April 27. The first cases came when horses in New Mexico and Arizona were found to have the New Jersey strain (see JAVMA, June 15, 2005).

The USDA reported that during the seven-month outbreak, 440 premises were placed under quarantine in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming. Of those 440 premises, 405 were released from quarantine.

During August and September, vesicular stomatitis cases were confirmed in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming for the first time in over a year. In September, the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa, confirmed the finding of vesicular stomatitis New Jersey virus in horses on a premise in Bear Lake County, Idaho. In August, the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory on Plum Island, N.Y., confirmed the first case of VS-NJ in cattle in Sublette County, Wyoming. Also in August, the NVSL confirmed VS-NJ in horses on a premise in Yellowstone County, Montana.

The USDA recommends veterinarians and livestock owners who suspect an animal may have vesicular stomatitis or any other vesicular disease should immediately contact state or federal animal health authorities. Clinical signs mimic those of foot-and-mouth disease, which hasn't been identified in the United States since 1929.

For more vesicular stomatitis updates, log on to the Center for Epidemiology and Animal Health Web site at aphis.usda.gov/vs/ceah, click on "National Center for Animal Health Surveillance," then "U.S. Animal Health Surveillance Information," and then "Vesicular Stomatitis."