(Austin, Texas - Wednesday, August 6, 2014) - The Texas Animal Health Commission (TAHC) received confirmation of six new cases of Vesicular Stomatitis (VS) in horses in Central Texas. Three new premises are located in Bastrop County and two new premises are in Travis County. One new premises is located in Falls County, the first case reported in this county.

• One premises is located 1 mile east of Manchaca in Travis County
• One premises is located 5 miles west of Marlin in Falls County
• One premises is located 10 miles southeast of Bastrop in Bastrop County
• One premises is located 2 miles north of Bastrop in Bastrop County
• One premises is located 5 miles north of Del Valle in Travis County
• One premises is located 8 miles northwest of Bastrop in Bastrop County

To date, 42 premises in 10 Texas counties have been confirmed with VS. Affected counties include(d): Kinney, Hidalgo, San Patricio, Nueces, Jim Wells, Bastrop, Travis, Guadalupe, Val Verde and Falls counties. Eight premises have been released from quarantine: 1 in Kinney county, 2 in Nueces county, 2 in San Patricio county, 2 in Hidalgo county and 1 in Jim Wells county.

*Case= A premises; a location*

The newly identified infected premises are currently under quarantine by the TAHC. Affected horses will be monitored by regulatory veterinarians while under quarantine. Premises are eligible for quarantine release 21 days after all lesions have healed.

For VS history and past updates, visit http://www.tahc.texas.gov/animal_health/equine/equine.html

Several states are imposing enhanced entry requirements on Texas livestock due to VS cases in Texas. For information about these movement restrictions, contact the state or country of destination and/or visit http://www.tahc.texas.gov/news/2014StateRestrictionsOnTX_VS.pdf .

For more information about VS, visit the TAHC’s brochure at http://www.tahc.state.tx.us/news/brochures/TAHCBrochure_VS.pdf .

A USDA-APHIS VS fact sheet is available at http://www.aphis.usda.gov/publications/animal_health/content/printable_version/fs_vesicular_stomatitis_2012.pdf .

For current USDA-APHIS VS situation reports visit http://www.aphis.usda.gov/wps/portal/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth?1dmy&urile=wcm%3apath%3a%2Faphis_content_library%2Fsa_our_focus%2Fsa_animal_health%2Fsa_animal_disease_information%2Fsa_equine_health%2Fsa_vesicular_stomatitis%2Fct_vesicular_stomatitis

For additional information, contact your local TAHC region office http://www.tahc.texas.gov/agency/TAHC_RegionalOfficeMap_2013.pdf .