WA #1 in 2015 for Horses Contracting West Nile.

This is Washington Ag Today, I’m Susan Allen. It’s West Nile Season and as a horse owner I understand what an investment they can be.. What I can’t fathom is why anyone would scrimp on the inexpensive insurance of vaccinating your horse against this deadly disease. If I can’t persuade you maybe our State Veterinarian Dr. Baker can. We talked of the risk in certain areas of our state.

Baker: I’m a firm believer in the typical annual shots that you give your horses Tetanus, Blue Sleeping Sickness and if you are in an area of Washington where there is known West Nile virtually every Summer not to vaccinate is almost unforgivable. The vaccines are a little more expensive than some of the typical vaccine products, but they do work . If I was in that eight to ten county area in Southcentral Washington where West Nile pops up most every summer, I would most certainly be vaccinating my horses.

How do we rank nationally?
 
Baker: We had more cases of West Nile than any other state in the country. We had ten counties with of West Nile cases. All of those Benton, Franklin, Yakima and up into Grant County, we had one in Adams county, some in Kittitas…. pretty well scattered along the Yakima and Columbia River basins. I’m Susan Allen and this is WA Ag Today.