Culex

Well, again, it's upticked in cases because there's more people who have it that can be bitten and pass it on to somebody else.

But West Nile is primarily from a mosquito family called the Culex, Pochmares and Pipians.

And they're very prevalent.

That's the primary mosquito family in the United States.

I think coming in the future, well, we understand all the bugs a little bit better, and we're getting the word out.

We don't have monopolies here.

Now, the Culex are dawn and dusk.

Anopheles are coming because that's how you're getting dengue.

[laughs]

Um, but even though there are a lot fewer of them overall than the culex species, they can breed very intensely in a hotspot.

So- That coupled with the fact that they are out during the day, whereas Culex is there during dawn and dusk-

Ah

... means that, um, they're very noticeable.

We have had particularly high numbers of equine West Nile virus cases in Europe since mid-July, especially in France, with three hundred and forty-three reporting so far compared to eight in the same time last year, and the Netherlands reporting a hundred and thirty-six cases where none were reported last year.

This is really demonstrating the need for vigilance as cases are coming further north with Culex mosquitoes environment.

Vaccination is available and is strongly recommended for any horses traveling to mainland Europe.

This message of caution traveling may now be even more so as there has also been an emergence of a Shamonda-like virus in Europe as another cause of neurological disease in horses.