RBC I As of Friday, all Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) affected premises have been released from quarantine in Colorado.
There are currently no VS-affected premises under quarantine in the United States. The VS outbreak in the United States began in April 2015, with a total of 823 cases in eight states; of that, Colorado confirmed 441 premises in 36 counties, including Rio Blanco County and surrounding Moffat, Garfield and Routt counties.
“In 2015, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) de-listed Vesicular Stomatitis as a foreign animal disease in horses,” State Veterinarian Dr. Keith Roehr said. “This greatly improved our ability to respond efficiently as private practicing veterinarians were able to collect samples and manage cases.”
“Another benefit was that veterinarians could send samples to the Colorado State University Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory for a more timely response on test results,” he said.
At this time, there are no commercially available USDA-approved vaccines for VS, but the USDA is working with a Colorado company to approve the use of an experimental vaccine for use in cattle only. While rare, human cases of VS can occur, usually among those who have handled infected animals.
“The disease can be transmitted when animals are co-mingled at livestock events,” Roehr said. “A good way to protect livestock is to prevent nose-to-nose contact with other animals.
“While this disease event is over, I encourage livestock owners to continue strict disease prevention practices such as minimizing the sharing of water and feed equipment and closely observe livestock for signs of disease,” he said.
