Horses protected by shots

A study showed the shots are 95 percent effective against the virus.
BALTIMORE, Ohio (AP) -- Many horse owners in Ohio are hoping a $20 shot can help protect their animals from the West Nile virus, which is much more deadly to birds and horses than humans.
As of November, 644 horses in 77 of Ohio's 88 counties had tested positive for the virus in blood samples sent to the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
The agency's Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory has confirmed two more cases this year in Clark and Hardin counties.
Thousands more horses might have been infected but didn't show symptoms or get tested, said Bill Saville, an Ohio State University Extension epidemiologist.
Protection rate
Saville said a study conducted by his office indicated a vaccine against West Nile is about 95 percent effective in horses. Shots of pink-tinted solution are given twice the first year, with annual boosters afterward.
"I'm not going to lose a $2,000 horse over a $20 shot," said John Gosney, who owns Workin J. Farm in Lancaster. "A couple of them I've raised from yearlings. It would be hard to lose them."
Gosney vaccinated four horses last summer and has scheduled booster shots.
Symptoms in infected horses include listlessness, stumbling, lack of coordination, partial paralysis and death, according to the Ohio Department of Health's Web site.
Marshall Johnson, a large-animal veterinarian, estimates he's administered 300 shots among the 1,000 horses he regularly treats .
Horse owners can take other precautions, such as clearing standing water from near barns, covering stalls with mesh screens, turning stable lights off at night and using fans to repel mosquitoes.