A recent update from the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) indicates that the nationwide case totals of equine West Nile virus (WNV) and Eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) are beginning to steady.

According to a Dec. 12 update, 338 cases of WNV and 181 EEE cases have been reported across the country since the start of the year. In early November, the agency reported 296 WNV cases and 177 EEE in the United States since Jan. 1.

Horses in at least 40 states have been confirmed positive for WNV so far this year. The APHIS report indicates that Texas (57), Oklahoma (41), and Montana (27) have reported the most equine WNV cases thus far. According to APHIS data, Texas also led the nation in confirmed cases in 2012, with 120 reported that year, and Oklahoma confirmed 42 cases last year. Montana only confirmed six cases in 2012.

Some of the states with the most equine WNV cases in 2012 have reported decidedly fewer cases thus far in 2013. Louisiana, which reported 62 cases in 2012, has only reported four cases so far this year; Pennsylvania, which had 47 cases last year, has reported two cases since the start of the year, while Indiana has only reported a single case thus far in 2013, down from 30 last year