Do you think West Nile virus (WNV) has run its course in the United States? Then you need to watch the "WNV Reality Check!" on TheHorse.com on Thursday, July 30, at 8 p.m., sponsored by Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health. You can sign up now!  

According to the Centers for Disease Control, last year there were 687 human cases of West Nile virus in the United States, resulting in 44 deaths. California alone accounted for 292 of the human cases and 15 deaths. It’s easier to say New Hampshire and Vermont were the only states without reported cases in humans, animals, or insects last year.

Of 507 reported cases of WNV disease among nonhuman mammals in 2007, 471 (93%) occurred in equines. Statistically about 40% of horses that get WNV die from the disease or its complications.

Thus far in 2009 there have been reported cases in humans, animals, birds, or mosquitoes in California, Indiana, Louisiana, and South Carolina