First West Nile Virus Confirmed in Wyoming

August 16, 2002

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The West Nile virus has reached Wyoming, where state health officials confirmed Friday that a horse died of the disease.

If confirmed by federal scientists, Wyoming would be the 39th state that the westward moving mosquito-borne virus has hit.

"We're treating it as a positive, and we feel really comfortable calling it a positive," Ross Doman, spokesman for the state Health Department. "We did two tests on it."

Terry Creekmore, West Nile Virus project coordinator for the state Health Department, said the horse that died of encephalitis came from eastern Goshen County near the Nebraska border.

Samples were collected on Aug. 8 and 9 and taken to the Wyoming State Veterinary Lab in Laramie on Aug. 10, Creekmore said.

State Health Officer Brent Sherard emphasized that no human cases have been reported in Wyoming.

http://www.trib.com/HOMENEWS/HEAD/16WestNile_Wyo1255.html