Wednesday, August 1, 2001
On Monday, the state Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services confirmed that a 30-year-old female horse in the Bucklake Road area had the West Nile virus. The Arabian horse was reported sick July 12 and was later euthanized, according to Dr. Lee Koffman, state veterinarian.
A total of seven horses in the state have tested positive for West Nile virus, including five in Jefferson County and one in Duval County. An additional dozen horses are suspected to have the virus, Koffman said.
The extended medical alert urges residents to protect against mosquitoes to avoid the potentially fatal West Nile and Eastern equine encephalitis viruses. The alert extends from Okaloosa County in the western Panhandle to Duval County on the East Coast.
Both viruses are carried by mosquitoes, which are plaguing North Florida in higher-than-normal numbers this summer, the first rainy one after three dry summers.
An Okaloosa County boy, 9-year-old Cody Landsverk, has died from eastern equine encephalitis, and a Madison County man has been hospitalized with a West Nile virus infection.
Both West Nile and eastern equine encephalitis rarely affect humans. But officials are urging people across North Florida to wear protective clothing and mosquito repellent when they are outside, particularly at night when the pests feed.
The counties under the alert are: Baker; Bradford; Clay; Columbia; Duval; Hamilton; Lafayette; Nassau; St. Johns; Suwannee; Union; Okaloosa; Santa Rosa; Walton; Holmes; Washington; Jackson; Bay; Calhoun; Gulf; Franklin; Liberty; Gadsden; Wakulla; Leon; Jefferson; Madison; and Taylor.