7/17/01

Roy Roberson

AU INVESTIGATING POSSIBLE SPREAD OF EQUINE ENCEPHALITIS

AUBURN -- Five cases of equine encephalitis in horses have been discovered in Alabama and there is the threat that the deadly disease could spreading throughout Alabama Auburn University researchers say.

"There is a fear that humans might contract the disease, since we know that mosquitos carrying Eastern Equine Encephalitis have already been found in the five counties in south Alabama," said Gary Mullen, a medical entomologist in AU's College of Agriculture.

Symptoms of the disease in humans include fever and severe headaches. About half those who contract the disease survive, but many suffer permanently debilitating brain damage.

Equine encephalitis in horses is nearly always fatal, and even horses that survive the disease are left with brain lesions and usually never recover fully.

While Alabama has cases of encephalitis periodically, the cases reported in horses this year occurred earlier than in the past. Mullen said this has led to speculation that the disease may spread from south to north and become a statewide problem.

Mullen has sampled 10,000 mosquitos and plans to continue sampling in the areas of encephalitis outbreaks. The five documented cases occurred in Baldwin, Escambia, Geneva, Dale, and Covington counties.

Mullen said Eastern Equine Encephalitis is spread by mosquitos from birds and other hosts to horses and to humans.

"Though Eastern Equine Encephalitis is primarily a rural disease, people statewide are at risk because birds carry the disease out of swampy areas where it originates," he said. There is a high population of mosquitos this summer caused, in part, because of unusually wet weather.

Mullen said people who live in areas where Eastern Equine Encephalitis has been identified should avoid going outside at dusk when mosquitos are most active and should mosquito repellents containing the substance DEET.

The mosquito sampling is part of a federally-funded statewide study that involves a cooperative venture by AU, University of Alabama at Birmingham, U.S. Department of Agriculture and county health departments.

jul01:AU-encephalitis

CONTACT: Mullen, 334/844-2554.