2A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2015 ,n WashinJton, West 1ile Oregon ag, food e[ports ¿ nd virus maNes a comebacN an expanding market in Asia *et your horse vaccinated, state veterinarian urJes By DON JENKINS Capital Press WashinJton 6tate 9eteri narian -oe %aNer, a horse oZn er and selfdescribed ³retired horse doctor,´ suspects one reason for this summer¶s hiJh number of eTuine West 1ile virus cases is complacency. ³, really, really Zish peo ple Zould thinN tZice before sNippinJ the vaccine,´ %aNer said . ³This is not a disease to be taNen liJhtly.´ West 1ile virus cases are up this summer for both hu mans and horses. %aNer said he suspects that the drouJht has forced viruscarryinJ mos Tuitoes to scout for Zater and that they are ¿ ndinJ it near an imals, includinJ horses. ³%e inJ survivalists, mosTuitoes Zill Jo to Zherever the mois ture is,´ he said. %ut he also said he thinNs some horse oZners have let their Juard doZn. The state Department of AJriculture has con¿ rmed horses Zith West 1ile virus so far this summer. The state con ¿ rmed only eiJht cases in the previous ¿ ve years combined. Horse oZners may have forJotten the cases in and the cases , %aNer said. 1one of the horses that contracted the virus this year Zere up to date Zith vaccina tions aJainst the disease, he said. ³Animal oZners tend to have amnesia after a feZ years,´ %aNer said. ³, thinN that¶s playinJ some role in Zhat Ze¶re seeinJ.´ Vaccinations good for a year %aNer, Zho spent a decade early in his career e[clusively treatinJ horses, urJed oZners to vaccinate their horses year ly aJainst the virus. A horse Jiven its ¿ rst shot this month Zill need a second dose in about four ZeeNs to bolster the immunity, he said. 9accinations Jiven noZ Zill Juard a horse throuJh most of ne[t year¶s mosTuito season, %aNer said. A dose of vaccine costs to , he said. About onethird of infect ed horses die, accordinJ to the state . %aNer said about percent of the survivors suffer permanent damaJe, such as blindness, loss of balance and ZeaN limbs. Most eTuine West 1ile virus cases occur in c entral WashinJton. This year, si[ cases have been con¿ rmed in