State: Horse farmers brace for West Nile

OCALA -- West Nile virus, an insidious disease carried by mosquitoes, is no more trouble to most humans than the common cold. But it could wreck J.B. McKathan's life.

McKathan, an Ocala horseman who discovered 1997 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Silver Charm, has watched as the disease crept south from Jefferson County, through Suwannee and now into Pasco.

His multimillion-dollar stock of thoroughbreds is now surrounded by counties with confirmed cases of the virus, and McKathan, like many horse owners in Marion County, is worried that a single mosquito bite could cost him, or his insurer, millions.

"You'd be foolish not to be concerned about it," McKathan said Thursday from under a tree at a thoroughbred sale at Ocala Breeders' Sales and Training Complex, a sprawling facility not far from Interstate 75.

Birds and horses are most susceptible to the West Nile virus. There is a vaccine available that is supposed to protect horses from West Nile, but it has not been distributed to Marion County, home to 600 horse farms worth an estimated $3-billion.

Thursday, the state's West Nile alert area grew by three more counties, including Alachua -- adjacent to Marion County. The spread of the disease, and the scarcity of the vaccine, now threaten to pit the state's horse industry against recreational riders and big operations against smaller operations as everyone tries to protect their animals.

"If I had to rate all of the threats of disease -- rabies, encephalitis -- I'd put our concern for the West Nile virus right at the top," said Harold Plumley, whose Ocala farm has about 100 horses.

Across Florida, 38 cases of West Nile among horses have been confirmed and 10 have died, according to the Department of Agriculture. There are many more unconfirmed cases. Three humans have been made sick by the disease in Florida, but none have died here.

The vaccine for horses only recently received conditional approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and only a limited amount has been produced by the manufacturer in Kansas. It is expected to arrive early next month. Because Ocala's horse industry is important to the state's economy, breeders there stand to receive the first supplies, a situation that struck at least one owner outside the region as unfair.

"Does that matter?" asked Karen Hawley, who owns four horses in the Keystone area of Hillsborough County. "My horses are like my kids."

But Ron Martin, who manages Cypress Trails Farm in Odessa, said it makes sense to deliver the vaccine first to an area with a higher horse population.

Keystone and Odessa are dotted with boarding facilities and large-lot homes owned by horse owners, but many farms in Marion County, he pointed out, have more than 100 horses. "Why wouldn't they go to Ocala?" he said.

As they wait for the vaccine, breeders are taking extra precautions. They are spraying their animals with insect repellent and keeping them indoors more than usual and away from standing water.

"We're just hoping it doesn't come this way," said Jessie Longoria, a horse farmer from Levy County who was at the sale in Ocala on Thursday. "Unless they start vaccinating, the disease could put a big old dent in the horse industry."

The sense of concern is shared by the recreational riders in Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

Odessa Equine Clinic, with 6,000 customers in Pinellas, Pasco and Hillsborough counties, is gearing up for the vaccine. Three thousand customers have already signed up for the shots.

"We've been told we'll get the vaccine sometime next month unless we get a positive case," said office manager Kathy Anderson. The vaccine will be offered initially in a two-shot series at about $23 a shot, she said.

In the meantime, she said, the clinic's veterinarians are advising customers to use fly and mosquito sprays more often during the day.

Georgann Powers, who has been teaching show-jumping riders for 32 years at her 10-acre farm in Pinellas Park, said she has turned up the automatic bug control that sprays a mist in the farm's stalls and aisles.

"Instead of twice a day, I've bumped it up to three times a day," Powers said. She has put the barn on the clinic's list for the West Nile vaccine when it becomes available.

Hillsborough horse owners and boarders are treating their animals with various mosquito repellents, covering their bodies and, in many cases, keeping animals inside their stables at night.

Hillsborough employees have laid out about 40 traps and are spraying areas with high concentrations of mosquitoes.

Despite the high level of concern, horse owners are being urged to remain calm.

"Those of us in the industry are used to risk," said Richard E. Hancock of the Florida Thoroughbred Breeders' & Owners' Association. "We're hopeful that the new vaccine is going to work."

Meanwhile, workers in one of the area's other large animal industries have nothing to fear.

Chickens are used as sentinels for the disease since it will appear in their blood but will not kill them. So chicken farmer Homer Hunnicutt, who has 100,000 birds south of Brooksville, said he is resting easy.

"We're not concerned about it at all," he said. "You probably know more about it than I do."

-- Staff writers Josh Zimmer, Christina K. Cosdon, Saundra Amrhein and Keith Niebuhr contributed to this report.

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