Equine Epidemic

Equine Epidemic Few diseases are more fear-inspiring than encephalitis, a group of viral ailments that attack the brain and sometimes produce a fatal form of sleeping sickness. Thousands of horses died when an epidemic of Eastern equine encephalitis struck the Eastern U.S. in 1933; thousands more were affected when a similar disease hit the Central U.S. and Canada in 1941. Now, horses throughout the Southwest are threatened by yet another related virus. An epidemic of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) has been working its way northward from South America since 1969 and has now crossed the border into Texas.

Carried by mosquitoes, the disease can be devastating. Horses infected by the virus usually die a painful death within 72 hours, often wandering dizzily in circles until they fall to earth. Mexican officials report that at least 10,000 animals have died there since the disease hit the country earlier this year. A federal-state task force fighting the epidemic in Texas has already recorded 1,000 animal deaths, and has received reports that many are floating down the Rio Grande River.

Humans can also contract equine encephalitis if they are bitten by the virus-carrying mosquitoes, and many people have developed the disease. Several thousand inhabitants of the northern Mexican town of Rio Verde have come down with the telltale, flu-like symptoms: headache, fever, aching bones, nausea and vomiting. In the border town of Brownsville, Texas, three children have been diagnosed as having the disease. Elsewhere in the Rio Grande Valley, 36 people with similar symptoms have been admitted to hospitals. Their chances of recovery, however, are excellent. Venezuelan equine encephalitis is rarely fatal to humans; most recover from it in a few days.

Food for Buzzards. The prognosis for the state's horses, however, is poor. Supplies of antiencephalitis vaccine, which is still in the experimental stage, are limited. Aerial spraying of mosquito-breeding areas was begun too late to kill many of the disease-bearing insects. "We've kind of lost this battle," says Dr. P.R. Henry, chief of the federal task force. "The mosquitoes laden with virus got to the horses before we could protect them."

Efforts are under way to prevent the disease from spreading. Authorities have quarantined all of the state's horses, not only forbidding owners to ship them out of the state but prohibiting intercounty movement as well. The order, which grounded a unit of the Ringling Bros, and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Dallas, may keep the deadly equine epidemic confined to Texas though horses from the famed King Ranch were shipped to Kentucky prior to the quarantine and may be carrying the disease. The quarantine will do little to prevent those animals already exposed from becoming food for the buzzards. Thousands of the state's 400,000 horses are expected to die of VEE before the coming of colder weather helps kill the mosquitoes and curb the spread of the disease.

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