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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Ames, Iowa » National Animal Disease Center » Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #103182
Title: REVIEW OF THE 1997 OUTBREAK OF VESICULAR STOMATITIS IN THE WESTERN UNITED STATES

Author
item MCCLUSKEY, B - USDA-APHIS-VS
item HURD, HOWARD
item MUMFORD, E - COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY

Submitted to: Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/11/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: The southwestern section of the United States experienced for the second time in three years (1995-1997) an outbreak of vesicular stomatitis (VS) during the spring, summer, and fall of 1997. One of the unusual aspects of this outbreak was the presence of two serotypes of the VS virus, VS New Jersey (VS-NJ) and VS Indiana (VS-IN). The most recent previous identification of VS-IN in the United States was made in 1966, in the same part of the western United States. Serious effects and consequences were felt by livestock industries in affected states due to quarantines and animal movement restrictions. The purpose of this report is to review the 1997 outbreak, as it may shed some light on the source and transmission of vesicular stomatitis. During the 1997 outbreak, there were a total of 380 premises identified as housing animals positive for VS in four states: Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Similar to the 1995 outbreak, clusters of cases occurred in the Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Grand Junction, Colorado, areas. However, unlike the 1995 outbreak, a large number of cases were identified in the counties along the Front Range Mountains of Colorado extending from Pueblo, Colorado, as far east as Brush, Colorado. Horses comprised 704 of 802 (88%) of the examinations conducted and 362 of 374 (97%) positive premises had horses diagnosed as positive for VS. Cattle comprised 78 of 802 (10%) of the examinations conducted and 12 of 374 (3%) positives premises had cattle diagnosed as positive. Producers, practitioners, and disease control officials will benefit from this information.

Technical Abstract: The southwestern section of the United States experienced an outbreak of vesicular stomatitis (VS) during the spring, summer, and fall of 1997. One unusual aspect of this outbreak was the concurrent detection of two serotypes of the VS virus, VS New Jersey (VS-NJ) and VS Indiana (VS-IN). The most recent previous identification of VS-IN in the United States was made in 1966. Although certain movement and quarantine restrictions were no longer implemented during this outbreak, serious effects and consequences were still felt by livestock industrties in affected states. It is the purpose of this report to review the 1997 VS outbreak.