State veterinarian Mike Marshall hopes that owners gave their horses the first inoculation around April 1. It's now time for the second dose, with another due in August, if it's the first year a horse has been inoculated. Otherwise, it needs one in spring and one around Aug. 1. That has to be done every year.

Like people, not all horses bitten by an infected mosquito will become sick. Some might be just a "little logy, off-color." But, he added, "the ones that get really sick might be sick for two weeks and they're deathly ill. Last year, almost half the ones that were noticeably sick died" of an encephalitis illness. In 2001, nationally, 18,000 horses showed clinical signs of the disease, though many more had likely been infected without any outward sign. Of those with noticeable effects, 4,000 died.

Even those that recover "often are not correct mentally," with heads that tilt, brain damage, stumbling, eyes that don't track together, "not something you'd trust your son getting on. There are some permanent changes," said Marshall, who will update a legislative interim committee on preparations to prevent the illness during a meeting Wednesday.

There simply isn't enough virus in infected horse blood to transmit it, even to another horse, making equines a "dead-end" host.

The Department of Agriculture is trying to spread the message for mosquito control, DEET use and the importance of a product to put in ponds that stops larvae from hatching. They're telling Utahns to use fly wipes on horses or put them in enclosed barns between dusk and dawn, when the infected mosquitoes bite. And they're trying to teach farmers and their families (others should learn, too) that although it's going to be warm, it's important to wear long-sleeved and -legged clothes, a hat and put DEET on hands, neck and face.

The overarching message is "don't just spray at the last minute, do all the preventive things including vaccination of horses to prevent it," Marshall said.

The multi-agency team is also keeping track of where the virus has been to determine where it's going to go. They know there's a "direct correlation" with major waterways in Utah and where the disease has occurred, he said.

Even the Legislature has gotten into the virus-busting act, providing a half-million dollars to help with mosquito control, with the focus on counties that don't have a mosquito-abatement system.

The first human infections are most likely to occur in Utah around July 1 but now is the time to prevent it completely, said Jana Kettering, Health Department spokeswoman.

More information is online at www.health.utah.gov.

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E-mail: lois@desnews.com