An ongoing outbreak of vesicular stomatitis continues to grow in Southern California, with the most recent update from federal veterinary services officials tallying a total of 57 premises under quarantine across four counties.
Vesicular stomatitis is a viral disease that impacts multiple breeds of livestock and is transmitted mostly by biting insects. It's endemic in Central America and is mainly carried to the U.S. through black flies, sand flies, and biting midges. It can also be transmitted horse to horse or through shared water sources and equipment. The disease is characterized by blistery lesions on the nose, mouth, ears, or coronary bands, which are painful and may reduce a horse's appetite or cause lameness. Most cases resolve on their own, but old and vulnerable animals can struggle with it, and it can be passed to humans in some circumstances.
The best strategy for prevention, according to the USDA, is good insect control as well as quarantine policies for new horses arriving to a facility. There are vaccines in development for vesicular stomatitis, but none have been federally-approved for use in horses yet.
In 2019 and 2020 the U.S. Department of Agriculture/Animal and Plant Health Service dealt with large-scale outbreaks. The 2019 outbreak was the largest in four decades and included 1, 144 facilities across eight states. An outbreak in 2020 reached 326 premises in eight states.
The current outbreak is impacting facilities in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego counties and started in an 11-year-old Quarter Horse mare. Facilities that have positive cases are placed under state quarantine until two weeks after the appearance of lesions from the last impacted animal.
Besides its impacts on animal health, vesicular stomatitis is problematic because it limits movement of both horses and cattle and can have a ripple effect on equine events which take place around the same time of year that vector insects are most active.
Stay informed on the California outbreak via the Equine Disease Communications Center or through the USDA's page for vesicular stomatitis.
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