New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Health

Memo

To: Veterinarians

From: State Veterinarian Nancy E. Halpern, DVM

Date: May 2, 2005

Re: First Positive Bird for WNV in New Jersey 2005

     The first positive crow for West Nile Virus (WNV) in 2005 has been identified in Hunterdon County. The crow was collected on April 21, 2005. New Jersey began collecting and testing birds and mosquito pools three weeks ago. In 2004, the first WNV infected bird was identified on April 29th in Atlantic County. In addition, the first positive mosquito pool and horse were not identified until June and August of 2004, respectively.

     The official WNV season for horses is defined from June 15th-November 15th of each year and no horses have been confirmed positive thus far. If you have not advised your clients of the preventative and prophylactic measures for WNV, we suggest you do so in the very near future. The American Association of Equine Practitioners published a 2005 supplement on West Nile Virus Vaccination Guidelines. These guidelines are available at http://www.aep.org.

     The New Jersey Department of Agriculture’s Division of Animal Health and the Division of Animal Health Diagnostic Laboratory are available for consultation and testing of horses suspected of a WNV infection. Due to the public health concerns of certain neurological conditions of horses, all neurological diseases in horses are reportable to the Department (609-292-3965). The Neurological Disease Worksheet has been revised from previous years and is available at http://www.state.nj.us/agriculture/05eqneurowork. All submissions must be accompanied with this revised form. When necessary, our staff is available to record the required information on the worksheet via telephone if you are unable to do so in the field.

     In the next week, a survey will be distributed to the large animal veterinarians in the State. Please take a few moments out of your busy practice to complete it and send it back to the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. The survey is designed to evaluate the prevalence and effectiveness of the marketed WNV vaccines available.

     Website: New Jersey Department of Agriculture, Division of Animal Health