PRAIRIE DU CHIEN, Wis. – A horse in Crawford County died from West Nile virus — the first confirmed case in a Wisconsin horse in more than two years. The state Agriculture Department said the horse was a 9-year-old Belgian/Standardbred gelding. The animal had not been vaccinated, the agency said. Although West Nile virus can be fatal to humans, it cannot be contracted from horses. Transmission comes directly from mosquitoes. The state’s advice to horse-owners: Vaccinate your animals and keep them keep them in a barn from dawn till dusk. Also: Dump and drain stagnant water where mosquitoes breed.
