1) Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) is a zoonotic disease caused by an alphavirus that can cause epidemics in both equines and humans.
2) There are epizootic and enzootic strains of the virus, with epizootic strains causing large outbreaks and disease in horses that precedes human epidemics.
3) The virus is transmitted between equine and other hosts by mosquitoes and other hematophagous vectors. VEE is considered a re-emerging disease as outbreaks continued to occur through the early 2000s after being thought eradicated in the 1970s.