Vesicular Stomatitis Virus in horses

Vesicular stomatitis, the new horse covid -19. Well, not so new. The problem has been going on since 2014! The other day I was reading a horse magazine and it was talking about this outbreak of virus. It started in Colorado and infected TONS of horses and forced the affected farms to quarantine. You probably have never heard of this virus but it is still going around strong. The most reported viruses have been in Colorado, Texas, Utah, Wyoming, New Mexico, Nebraska, and Oklahoma.

How did it start

Nobody really knows how VSV started. All we know is that in summer of 2014 in Colorado the virus was spreading very quickly.

Symptoms

If your horse has blisters, sores, sloughing of the skin, lameness, or weight loss they might have VSV.

Treatment

If your horse has VSV then make sure to feed them soft foods and give them anti-inflammatory medicine to help them continue to eat and drink. If their hooves are infected don't ride them too much or at all, as this will cause a lot of pain and can cause even worse damage. If your horse has VSV then you mush quarantine your farm for 14-21 days.

Spreading

VSV spreads by touch. For example if your horse with VSV were to rub his head against another horse then there would be a big chance that the other horse has VSV. It can also spread from objects. If you use a brush on the horse that has the virus and then you use it on another horse that horse probably has the virus now. VSV can also be spread from horse to human so if your horse has it and you think you have it (you will experience flu like symptoms) then you must quarantine as well.

If you think your horse has VSV react quickly, call a vet to see what has to be done. Don't spread it to other horses. Hope you enjoyed my post! xx The Desert Rider