Bar-Bar-A interview with Mosquito Abatement Official
Recent deaths of horses in Wyoming, Colorado, and Arizona have caused concern among some of the western states wondering just when the virus will hit again in full force. The Department of Health quotes there were 246 human deaths and over 5,000 horse deaths attributed to the West Nile virus in the United States in 2002, that's a jump from nine human deaths and 733 horse deaths in 2001. "Within the horse population there is a 30 to 40 percent mortality rate".
Recently Bar-Bar-A had its stables inspected by a Mosquito Abatement Representative. He said horse owners should be taking action to inoculate animals now because the vaccine requires two shots and takes three to six months to become effective. Waiting until we see the virus here before inoculating, and waiting to take steps to stop the mosquito population would be like jumping out of a plane, then deciding you wanted a parachute. Currently there is no vaccine for humans.
He was so impressed with what he saw he was kind enough to write down what he could remember of the interview. Here is his recreation of that dialogue.
Bar-Bar-A: I saw you checking our horse stables, may I ask why?
M.A.: We are checking the mosquito population in areas that are likely to be mosquito infested. Areas of concern are animal watering methods.
Bar-Bar-A: Did you find anything here at our stables?
M.A.: Out of the last 26 stables I just checked in this area, yours is the first one that I found that is mosquito free. Nearby there is a large property. I found 9 water troughs, all of which were loaded with mosquito larvae. Not that they were dirty, but they haven't been cleaned for at least 5 days to get that many. There were thousands of larvae in their troughs. That’s what I have been finding at every stable and barn and watering hole over the entire 40-mile mountain front area I've been examining this week. It's been amazing what I have found: simple water buckets people use to carry there grain in which they leave in the yard for the week end up having a multitude of larvae by the weeks end.
Bar-Bar-A: Anything else we should look for in our stables to keep the mosquitoes away?
M.A.: Tires. I find hundreds of tires that everyone uses to protect their sprinkler heads from their animals, filled with water on the inside and also filled with tons of larvae. You might want to go into your field and drill holes in the bottoms of the tires so the water drains out.
Bar-Bar-A: What do you know about the protection that the vaccines give our horses; we vaccinated all of them at a considerable expense?
M.A.: Let me put it this way.... If you went to the doctor and got a vaccination for lets say...the Ebola virus, and knowing that it takes up to 6 months to become effective, and even though you received the vaccine, 6 percent still get it, (that’s 6 out of every hundred horses) would you feel comfortable allowing yourself to stand in the middle of a large room with lets say 3000 people infected with the Ebola virus and allow them all to spit on you and scratch you with their nails? Most likely not, though the vaccine should work...I say, "Should" because it hasn't been proven as fact yet that it does work as all vaccines go unfortunately. There is still the 6 percent chance that you would still get it, meaning your life is now over. Now if you have expensive horses as my neighbor does, he raises Kentucky racehorses and breeds at a cost from 25 thousand plus, and do you think he would take a 6 percent gamble that he wouldn't lose a horse to the virus. He doesn't. He cannot afford to lose 6% of his horses. He calls quit frequently to come fog his area and look for larvae. And even though he cleans his stalls frequently, and cleans the troughs weekly, I still find some larvae.
Bar-Bar-A: If he is that consistent with cleaning his systems where are you finding the larvae?
M.A.: His watering troughs. Even though he keeps them clean, all it takes is for him to take a horse out for the weekend and by the time he gets back he has a hefty amount of larvae in the waterer that wasn't used for the past 2-4 days. It only takes one adult mosquito to take flight, bite someone or something and then go lay her eggs by the hundreds in a matter of hours or minutes. If one gets away, the offspring can multiple by thousands.
Bar-Bar-A:
Then your talking about a continual job of always watching your troughs. Most people don't have that kind of time to make consistent checks on all of there watering sources. That's why everyone buys large metal or plastic troughs, so they last for days without having to check them constantly.
M.A.: Unfortunately that's a fact. I even have several large bathtubs that I use for watering my horse and cows. If you get down close where you have deep water you will see them at the bottom squirming along. Or if they have been there awhile they will all be at the top breathing through their little tubes. If you can't see the bottom of your tank, then you can pretty much guarantee you have larvae. They love that climate the best. If your water is clear and clean you won't find. But the fist time the horse takes a drink with grass or hay in his mouth and leaves some greenage behind, you just started a new cycle if you don't clean it within 5 days. Then again, they can still appear in clear and clean water. I see many troughs and tanks that have large populations of larvae the day after they are cleaned because the eggs where embedded on the sides of the tank. They just needed water to hatch. Even Dog water bowls get them. You wouldn't believe where I find them.
Bar-Bar-A: What do they do to dogs?
M.A.: Dogs get heartworms from mosquito larvae. Many people stake their dogs outside in the back, give them water every so often with food and think they will be OK. Not so. A lot of dogs are lost every year due to mosquitoes.
Bar-Bar-A: Do mosquitoes need to bite, or should I say, why do they bite?
M.A.: The male mosquitos don't bite. They actually feed on nectar and plants. If only we could teach the females to do that! BUT...the females do, and quit aggressively. They need the protein that they get from the blood to lay their eggs. So if you just got bit, she is on her way to lay around 100 to 400 eggs if she got a good blood meal from you. It will take somewhere between 24 to 72 hours for those eggs to hatch and 4 to 5 days to fly.
Now if you have a field like mine you can go out on any given night with a light and go look at your cows or horses and you'll find anywhere from 100 to several thousand mosquito's on them eating them up for dinner. If each mosquito can lay 400 eggs from that bite, multiply that by your 3000 mosquitoes on that animal, you get around 1.2 million eggs laid tonight. And that is only from this one animal that was attacked. Now try to add up all the animals in your area, including birds, reptiles etc and multiply those numbers. We are talking about a large number of eggs laid every day from mosquitoes.
Your waterers are among the most affective I have seen for decreasing the mosquito population. I have seen probably around 20 or more types of watering systems in the area, some makeshift and others store bought. Some of these folks have put some large amounts of money into them. But so far none of them can be mosquito free. They all retain water for mosquitoes to grow. Yours is perfect! I haven't seen anything like these before. There is absolutely no way a mosquito can grow or even lay any eggs in these. Mosquitoes need a wet source to lay their eggs in or nearby. Yours are always dry so they'll never even see any water here. Plus I can see how these would greatly help out in this drought we’re having. Most people let their water run continually into the trough making puddles, mosquito hatcheries and all kinds of really neat bug displays for their horses to drink up. Yours are fresh every time and the water used is only what the horse drinks. Very efficient. I really believe you have a great product. Keep it up for all our sakes! If everyone had one of these I don't think we would have lost over 5 thousand horses last year. It's a real shame to lose a good horse by an insect so small.
That was Frank Myseliac from the Davis County Mosquito Abatement services in Layton, Utah. The Bar-Bar-A Horse Drinker™ helps to decrease the spread of the West Nile Virus.
West Nile Virus Questions and Answers
Q. How does West Nile Virus (WNV) spread?
A. WNV is a mosquito borne virus that was first detected in the Eastern United States in 1999. Since then it has spread to nearly every state in the United States except for Utah as of yet. It is expected to hit Utah this year. The Virus is spread when a mosquito bites an infected bird and then bites a human or horse. Neither humans nor horses can transmit the disease; humans and horses are "dead-end carriers". Only the mosquito can transmit it. Any area with mosquitoes should be of great concern for horse owners.
Q. What are the symptoms and risks to horses infected?
A. Horses are infected much more often than any other domestic animals. Following transmission by an infected mosquito, WNV multiples in the horse's blood system and interferes with the central nervous system and causes inflammation of the brain, (encephalitis). Many horses infected with WNV do not develop any illness, but of the horses that become ill about 3 out of 10 die or need to be put down, 7 out of 10 recover. To date the WNV was blamed for sickening over 15,000 horses in the United States last year, over 5000 horses have died east of the Rocky Mountains due to WNV last year alone.
Q. What can be done to prevent and control outbreaks among the horse population?
A. Since mosquitoes are the primary agent infecting horses and humans it stands to reason that mosquito population control is essential. The aphis.usda.gov. Website states the following: "Remove all man-made potential sources of stagnant water in which mosquitoes might breed. Dispose of any water-holding containers, including discarded tires. Thoroughly clean watering troughs weekly". Any drinking water used for horses that remains stagnant for only 4 days can be a target for mosquitoes to breed. Buckets, old bathtubs, and any watering troughs that leave water standing in the open are breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The risk of infection grows as the mosquito population grows. As the mosquito population is diminished the risk also decreases. The Bar-Bar-A system can help in decreasing the mosquito population and lower the risk of infection because there is never any standing water in the Bar-Bar-A drinking basin. Each drink the horse takes is completely fresh and drains back into the earth as the horse finishes drinking.
Q. Can I get infected with WNV by caring for an infected horse?
A. Infectious mosquitoes transmit WNV. There is no documented evidence of person-to-person or animal-to-person transmission of WNV. However, you can become infected by an infected mosquito transmitting the virus to you.
Q. Can horses infected with WNV infect other horses or animals?
A. There is no documented evidence that WNV is transmitted between horses.
Q. My horse is vaccinated against equine encephalitis (EEE), western equine encephalitis (WEE), and Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE). Will these vaccines protect my horse against WNV?
A. No. EEE, WEE, and VEE belong to another family of viruses for which there is no cross protection
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Q. Can I vaccinate my horse against WNV?
A. A WNV vaccination has been recently approved. The efficacy has shown a 94% effective rate in challenge studies and is moderately costly. The Vaccine is a dead WNV that is injected with the hopes that the horse will develop antibodies against it.
Q. How long will a horse infected with WNV be infectious?
A. It is not known if an infected horse can be infectious (i.e., cause mosquitoes feeding on it to become infected). However, previously published data suggest that the virus is detectable in the blood for only a few days.
Q. What is the treatment for a horse infected with WNV? Should it be destroyed?
A. There is no reason to destroy a horse just because it has been infected with WNV. Data suggests that most horses recover from the infection. Treatment would be supportive and consistent with standard veterinary practices for animals infected with a viral agent.
The CDC statistics map website updated every wed showing national spread thus far this year: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/surv&control03Maps.htm
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