EEE/WEE/VEE Exam 2

Question 1

How many types of equine encephalitis virus are there?

Answer 1

3 (EEE, WEE, and VEE)

Question 2

How is EE transmitted?

Answer 2

between birds or rodents and mosquitoes

Question 3

When does the clinical disease occur during the year?

Answer 3

during mosquito season: late summer and early fall in temperate zones
-year-round in tropical zones

Question 4

What forms cannot be passed from horse to horse?

Answer 4

EEE and WEE

Question 5

Where is EEE more prevalent?

Answer 5

southeastern states (north FL and Carolinas)

Question 6

Can humans get EEE?

Answer 6

yes (not from horses or other humans though)

Question 7

What is the mortality rate of EEE in humans?

Answer 7

~10% every year

Question 8

What is the mortality rate of EEE in horses?

Answer 8

75-90% every year

Question 9

Why is EEE not transmitted to others once a horse contracts it?

Answer 9

they are affected by the disease but don’t produce high enough viremia to serve as a reservoir (considered dead end hosts)

Question 10

Can WEE affect people?

Answer 10

yes

Question 11

When was WEE the most deadly?

Answer 11

in the 30’s for both people and horses

Question 12

Is WEE common today?

Answer 12

no, cases in horses are sporadic

Question 13

What is the mortality rate of WEE in horses?

Answer 13

<50%

Question 14

What is one of the most important human and vet pathogens in the Western Hemisphere?

Answer 14

VEE

Question 15

What area was severely affected by VEE (humans and horses) in the 60’s?

Answer 15

Colombia

Question 16

What is the mortality rate of VEE in horses?

Answer 16

90%

Question 17

Where are there multiple outbreaks (most common) of VEE?

Answer 17

in Central and South America

Question 18

Does the United States often suffer from VEE?

Answer 18

no

Question 19

Who is the reservoir of VEE?

Answer 19

horses themselves spread the disease

Question 20

Mortality rate of VEE in humans?

Answer 20

1%

Question 21

What other animals also develop VEE?

Answer 21

-rabbits
-dogs
-small ruminants

Question 22

Has the human disease ever been demonstrated in the absence of the equine disease?

Answer 22

NEVER

Question 23

Why are vaccinations not recommended in the US for VEE?

Answer 23

because if the US brings it and gets the vaccination, the antibodies are now mixed up with the virus (cannot appropriately diagnose afterwards)

Question 24

Which forms are more neuroinvasive?

Answer 24

EEE and VEE

Question 25

Clinical signs

Answer 25

-obtunded mentation
-ataxia
-paralysis
-ultimately stupor
-irregular gait
-grinding of teeth
-incoordination
-circling
-head pressing
-hyperexcitability
-profound depression (sleeping sickness)

Question 26

Clinical signs are _______ in nature

Answer 26

progressive (mortality EEE and VEE > WEE)

Question 27

How is it diagnosed?

Answer 27

definitive diagnosis ante-mortem may not be possible, serology may be indicative

Question 28

What is possible to detect in horses that survive and are diagnosed?

Answer 28

rising antibody titers

Question 29

How can it be treated?

Answer 29

-support
-corticosteroids
-tranquilizers
-diuretics

Question 30

Prevention methods

Answer 30

-vaccination
-mosquito control
-aerial spraying of insecticide
-treating bodies of water
-spray horses with permethrin-based products