A horse in Jackson County, Florida, was euthanized after testing positive for eastern equine encephalitis, the state's fifth confirmed equine case this year, and that kind of report is the closest thing public health has to an early warning for one of the most severe mosquito-borne diseases in the United States.
Horses cannot transmit the virus to people. What an infected horse establishes is that mosquitoes carrying eastern equine encephalitis virus are biting mammals in that area, which is the step that has to happen before a person can be infected. Florida's confirmed equine cases this year have come from Hillsborough, Jackson, Osceola, Seminole, and Volusia counties, and have been circulated to veterinarians and horse owners through the Equine Disease Communication Center.
