Whether riding horses for pleasure or using them to work cattle on a ranch, it’s important to keep them vaccinated for West Nile virus.

Fall brings more cases of West Nile virus than any other time of the year, according to Dr. Bob Judd, host of Texas Vet News on the Texas Farm Bureau (TFB) Radio Network.

“In 2015, TVMDL [Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory] reported 40 cases (of West Nile) from the Panhandle to Dallas to Houston and in deep South Texas, so basically it is all over the state,” Judd said.

He recommends owners vaccinate their horses now to ensure immunity as we enter the fall season. Judd says all killed vaccines like West Nile require at least 10-14 days for the animal to respond.

“The Texas Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Lab indicated they have had 3 positive cases so far this year,” Judd said. “The last confirmed case was in July in Denton County in North Texas.”

West Nile first appeared in the U.S. in 1999 and is not as common, but it will remain a long term infection since it is a mosquito-borne disease.

According to Judd, all horses are susceptible to West Nile even if it doesn’t leave your property and no other horses are around.

He says more than 25,000 cases have been reported and there are probably three times that many that have been noted by veterinarians. The case fatality rate for West Nile is about 33 percent. And 40 percent of the horses that do survive will still have some neurological deficit for the rest of their lives.

“All West Nile vaccines are approved for once a year vaccination,” Judd said. “However, I would check with your local vet as some recommend vaccinating twice yearly depending on your horse’s exposure.”

Judd’s program can be heard daily online and on TFB Radio Network affiliates.