Table 2. Economic losses and costs associated with West Nile virus fever in the equine industry following an epidemic of West Nile virus infection in Belgium, estimated per horse, 2012 values.
| Economic impact | Value in euros |
|---|---|
| Disease in horse | |
| Visit of veterinary practitioner | 42 |
| Hospitalisation (7 days’ duration)a | |
| Stay of the horse | 69 |
| Veterinarian specialists (internal medicine, neurology) | 85 |
| Complementary examinations (blood sampling and analysis, X-rays, CSF puncture and analysis) | 191 |
| Medical treatment (NSAID, SAID, supportive treatment) | 396 |
| No hospitalisation | |
| Medical treatment (NSAID) | 27 |
| Diagnosis (serology, RT-PCR) | 76 |
| Indirect costs – containment of cases in stables | |
| Extra feed | |
| Hospitalised surviving horseb | |
| High-value horse | 33 |
| Leisure horse | 19 |
| Semi-feral horse | 12 |
| Non hospitalised horsec | |
| High-value horse | 39 |
| Leisure horse | 22 |
| Semi-feral horse | 14 |
| Extra bedding | |
| Hospitalised surviving horseb | |
| High-value horse | 44 |
| Leisure and semi-feral horse | 22 |
| Non-hospitalised horsec | |
| High-value horse | 53 |
| Leisure and semi-feral horse | 26 |
| Management of horse mortality | |
| Transport, destruction of cadaver | 70 |
| Replacement value for dead/euthanised horse | |
| High-value horse | 10,000 |
| Leisure horse | 4,000 |
| Semi-feral horse | 2,000 |
| Loss of earnings | |
| Per affected horse for rentd | 1,638 |
| Vaccination | |
| Two doses of vaccine, veterinary costs | 144 |
CSF: cerebrospinal fluid; NSAID: non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug; RT: reverse transcription; SAID: steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
a Hospitalised horses were assumed to be the most severely affected, when considering nervous clinical signs.
b Mean income per horse (39 workdays during clinical disease and recovery; three hours of work a day and one day off per week).
c A 42-day recovery period was considered for a horse that was not hospitalised.
d Regarding indirect costs and containment of cases indoors, a duration of 35 days was considered for recovery of a horse after its discharge from a veterinary hospital.