The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) has issued an Equine Health Advisory in response to diagnosis of Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE) in a horse in Stormont/Dundas/Glengarry, in eastern Ontario. The 12-year-old gelding died, which is the typically outcome with this disease in horses.
EEE is a devastating but fortunately rare (at least in Ontario) disease of horses, people and an assortment of other species (including emus, llamas and alpacas). Typically, a few equine cases are identified in Ontario every year, with human cases being rarer. However, since people and horses are infected in the same way – by the bite of an infected mosquito – finding the disease in a horse indicates risk to both horses and humans in the region.
More information about EEE cases in North America can be found at WormsAndGermsMap. Information for horse owners in Ontario, as well as Ontario-only equine neurological disease cases, can be found on the OMAFRA website.