Despite recent media reports, Wyoming, Colorado, and USDA veterinarians say that there is currently no scientific proof to link the West Nile virus vaccine to aborted, stillborn, or deformed foals, and that horse owners should continue to vaccinate their animals to protect them from the deadly disease.

Claims by a Denver newspaper that some pregnant mares may have been adversely affected by the popular vaccine are unfounded, according to spokespersons from the University of Wyoming (UW) and Colorado State University (CSU) veterinary diagnostic laboratories and the Wyoming and Colorado state veterinary offices, because none of the horses in question has been scientifically tested. (News Editor’s Note: Click here for more on the allegations and early responses to the newspaper article. An individual from the group that has made the allegations claimed that one aborted fetus was tested, but the results were inconclusive