SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, Calif. (KEYT) – A horse in the Santa Ynez Valley tested positive for mosquito-borne West Nile virus in late August. It’s the first discovery of the virus in Santa Barbara County since 2020, according to a statement released Sunday by the county’s Mosquito and Vector Management District.
The 5-year-old horse had not been vaccinated against West Nile virus since 2022. It has since recovered from the disease. Mosquito trap surveys were conducted near incident site in early September and the mosquitoes all tested negative, per the Mosquito and Vector Management District.
West Nile virus is most commonly transmitted in humans and horses through mosquito bites, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which notes that about 2,000 people get the disease each year in the United States. Horses make up 96.9% of reported non-human cases, per UC Davis…