A local outbreak of vesicular stomatitis — a highly contagious disease that can afflict horses, livestock, wildlife and even humans — has led to the postponement of this weekend’s Trapper Stampede Rodeo at Cody Stampede Park.

The Friday-Saturday rodeo was set to kick off the 2019 Northwest College rodeo season and is a popular event in the Big Sky Region.

However, over the past week, there have been two confirmed cases of vesicular stomatitis (VS) in the Powell area. Test results are pending on a third reported case, Dr. Jim Logan, the Wyoming state veterinarian, said Wednesday.

Dr. Ray Acker with Bighorn Animal Care Center said in a Facebook post that there are several suspected cases in the area.

In consultation with local veterinarians, Northwest College rodeo coach Del Nose decided it was in the best interest of the Big Sky Region to reschedule the rodeo for Oct. 4-5.

“The virus is so contagious, and I couldn’t bring in 238 head of horses from Montana down here, knowing that they might get sick,” Nose said. “Once a horse is quarantined, it lasts for 14 days if they’ve been exposed.”

Nose said the virus that causes the disease has “been spreading like a wildfire through here, Powell especially,” with reports of VS in other parts of the state.

Logan said there have been cases reported in many states, including Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska and Utah. He said insects are spreading the disease from animal to animal, with VS coming in through insect vectors that follow watersheds and irrigation routes.

“I expect we’ll be dealing with this until the first early frost,” Logan said.

Dr. Tony Scheiber, a member of and veterinarian for the Cody Stampede Board, said there was nothing legally preventing NWC from moving forward with the rodeo.

“There is no VS at the rodeo grounds, there is no VS in Cody, but the Montana coaches were nervous,” said Scheiber, adding that, “I understand they don’t want to take a chance and bring it home.”

Part of the concern may have been fueled by reports that one of the ill horses in Powell competed at the Cody Nite Rodeo at Cody Stampede Park before showing symptoms.

Scheiber said if that was the case — that the horse only became symptomatic and infective after leaving the grounds — that wouldn’t pose a problem for the rodeo grounds.

“It [VS] doesn’t live on the ground; It doesn’t live on fence posts or that kind of thing, it’s got to be an active infection,” Scheiber said, adding that they’ve seen no problems at the Cody rodeo grounds.

The disease is generally spread from nose-to-nose contact, shared water buckets and, primarily, biting black flies and midges after horses develop open sores, he said.

Logan said the recent cases in Powell were not discovered at a rodeo or any public event, with each reported after the horses’ private owners took them to a vet.

According to the College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at Colorado State University, the syptoms of VS are blisters, sores, and sloughing of skin in the mouth, on the tongue, on the muzzle and ears and above the hooves. Lameness and weight loss may also occur.

“The horses’ mouths get to foaming and they can’t eat and they can’t drink,” Nose said. “They will die of starvation if it’s not taken care of.”

Nose has his ranch on a voluntary quarantine for the next couple of weeks, and he’s hoping for a change in the weather to help eradicate the virus.

“Once we have a hard frost, we’re kind of out of the woods,” he said. “That’ll get rid of the flies — they’re the ones spreading it.”

If you have an animal that you suspect is infected with VS, immediately contact a veterinarian for testing, Acker said in his Facebook post.

He advised isolating horses that show signs of infection and to use individual rather than communal feeders, waterers and equipment to avoid the spread of the disease.

Infected animals and all other animals on the premises should be immediately quarantined to minimize the spread of the disease, Acker said. Incubation period is two to eight days after infection, and the quarantine period should be at least two weeks after onset of the last case on premises.

Acker said other livestock and even people can also become ill from the disease.

“Because of the possibility of human infection, great care should be taken when handling sick animals or suspected infected animals,” he said. “Proper bio safety methods should be implemented including wearing gloves, washing hands and clothing after handling animals, and sanitizing any equipment including shoes.”

If you experience any flu-like symptoms after handling infected animals, contact your physician, Acker wrote.

(Tribune News Editor Kevin Killough contributed reporting.)