“We have several premises under quarantine,” said Dr. Lynn Sorensen of Moab Veterinary Clinic. “We are looking at several more today (Tuesday). It’s a virus, and the symptoms of this disease are exactly the same as hoof and mouth disease.”
Before Tuesday, five properties, only two of them with large numbers of horses, were quarantined. On Tuesday the federal veterinarian was testing cattle.
“With cattle, sores develop on the teats and mouths. The cattle wean their young because it is painful to nurse them, so it really has an impact on the beef industry,” he said.
Sorensen said the disease surfaces every seven to 10 years, and will usually run its course without causing too much damage. The quarantine is needed for a full 21 days after any visible lesions have healed.
“It usually travels out of Texas, through New Mexico, Colorado and then Utah,” Sorensen said. “The first case this year came out of Davis County, and Uintah has had quite an outbreak. We don’t know a lot about the disease, but we think it’s spread by gnats or other biting insects. We recommend that ranchers use insecticide or pesticides on their animals to prevent further outbreak.”
Rarely do cases become severe, according to Sorensen, but when they do horses can lose their hooves, and then must be “put down.” The disease in even rarer cases can be transmitted to humans. Dr. Sorensen said he himself contracted vesicular stomatitis when he was in medical school.
“It causes severe flu-like symptoms,” he said. “It’s rare; but I mean very severe flu symptoms.”