The Kentucky Department of Agriculture is protecting Kentucky's multi-billion-dollar stake in its equine and cattle industries from an outbreak of vesicular stomatitis (VS) that has spread through four southwestern states. The Department has expanded its VS embargo to 20 counties in Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

Four counties were added to Kentucky's embargo on July 27 after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) confirmed cases in La Plata and Mesa counties in Colorado, Rio Arriba County in New Mexico and Grand County in Utah. All livestock, wild and exotic animals from the 20 counties are prohibited from entering Kentucky. Animals from areas of the four affected states not covered by the embargo are required to meet certain conditions before they may enter the Commonwealth.

Vesicular stomatitis is a viral disease that occurs sporadically in the U.S., usually in southwestern states. It can affect horses, cattle and swine, and occasionally sheep, goats and deer. It causes blisters to form in the animal's mouth, on teats or along the hooves, resulting in excessive salivation, lameness or oozing sores.

"Vesicular stomatitis can cause weight loss in all affected animals and a severe drop in milk production from dairy cattle," Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer explained. "VS could affect the livelihoods of thousands of hard-working farm families if it gets into Kentucky. The Department will do all it can to keep this disease out of the state and prevent it from harming our agriculture economy."

It is not fully known how VS is spread, but insects, mechanical transmission and movement of animals are all factors, according to the USDA. Once VS is introduced into a herd, the disease may move from animal to animal by contact or exposure to saliva or fluid from ruptured lesions. VS may incubate for two to eight days before clinical signs appear. It is rarely fatal and usually lasts about two weeks.

The clinical signs of vesicular stomatitis closely resemble those of foot-and-mouth disease. VS affects equine whereas foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) does not. FMD has been eradicated from the United States since 1929.

For more information or for updates, go to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Web site at www.kyagr.com, and click on Animal Health.

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