An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. As most everyone is aware, one of the easiest and most effective ways to prevent mosquito-borne viruses such as West Nile Virus as well as Eastern and Western Equine Encephalitis is prevention of mosquitoes themselves. One of the most effective methods to deter mosquitoes is to eliminate their breeding grounds, which means eliminating standing water wherever possible.

Using traditional watering methods or traditional animal waterers makes this difficult if not impossible. This is where The Drinking Post can help by eliminating 100% of the standing water associated with watering, because there is never any standing water in the bowl when it’s not in use.

Consider these facts:

• Those that do become ill typically exhibit muscle twitching, incoordination, muscle weakness, fever, sleepiness, inability to eat and/or drink, recumbency, and seizures.
• There is no cure for WNV.
• Horses that become ill are treated only by supportive measures (control of fever, IV’s, etc.)
  It may take several months for some equine to recover and even after recovery some will have persistent neurological deficits.
• Equine mortality rates continue to be about 30%.

Left are maps detailing where West Nile Virus cases have been reported to the CDC from 2001 and forward.

The Center for Disease Control (CDC) website also shows a map of the current years reported cases of West Nile Virus. To view this years map, visit the following website:
http://diseasemaps.usgs.gov/wnv_us_mosquito.html

The story is much the same when we look into Canada. Following is a link to the Public Health Agency of Canada that will provide the same information shown at left as it relates to Canada:
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/wnv-vwn/mon-hmnsurv_e.html

It’s easy to see that there is no ‘safe’ area when it comes to West Nile Virus. WNV does not have any type of geographical preference. It has been spread across the United States and Canada by migrating birds. Today anywhere mosquitoes are present, WNV is a real threat.

It is wide spread consensus that prevention remains the best practice to follow.