South Dakota

South Dakota reported fewer West Nile virus cases than officials expected in 2025. What happened?

Published

2 months ago

November 19, 2025

South Dakota reported fewer West Nile virus cases than officials expected in 2025. What happened?

With 87 cases of West Nile virus reported in 2025, South Dakota seems to have avoided the widespread outbreak experts anticipated earlier in the year.

In July, shortly after the first human case of 2025 was detected, the South Dakota Department of Health released a report projecting more than 130 cases for the year. That would have been the most in a single year for the state since 2018, when 169 cases were detected.

However, Joshua Clayton, South Dakota’s state epidemiologist, told the Argus Leader that a combination of factors helps explain why there were fewer cases than expected.

“Weather patterns likely played a significant role, as stretches of hot, dry conditions can reduce mosquito survival and limit the opportunity for transmission,” Clayton said. “City and county mosquito control programs also contributed through consistent management efforts throughout the season.”

The willingness of residents to protect themselves by using bug spray and limiting time outside during peak mosquito hours likely helped limit infections too, Clayton said.

Sanford Health to build new Black Hills Medical Center with $300 million gift

The majority of this year’s cases happened in East River counties, which Clayton said matches a “long-standing transmission pattern” in the state. The region also gets more rain and has more wetlands and other low-lying places that create “ideal breeding areas for mosquitoes,” he added.

“Human factors add to this pattern, since eastern South Dakota has more residents, which increases the chance of exposure and increases the likelihood that cases will be detected and reported,” Clayton said.

South Dakota reported four deaths from West Nile virus in 2025. That matches the total from 2023, when 96 human cases were detected in the state, a health department report says. Nationally, 46 states had, as of Nov. 18, reported a total of 1,941 human cases of West Nile virus this year, according to the CDC.

What are the symptoms of West Nile virus?

Most people infected with West Nile virus don’t develop any symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, about one in five people develop a fever and other symptoms, and about one out of 150 people develop a serious, sometimes fatal, illness.

When it becomes a serious illness, symptoms can include: high fever, headache, neck stiffness, stupor, disorientation, coma, tremors, convulsions, muscle weakness, vision loss, numbness or paralysis.

What are the best ways to prevent West Nile virus?

The health department says to take the following precautions to prevent mosquito bites and West Nile virus:

Apply mosquito repellents to clothes and exposed skin, and limit exposure by wearing pants and long sleeves in the evening.
Limit time outside between dusk and midnight, when mosquitoes are most active.
Remove standing water, which provides mosquitoes with a breeding ground. Routinely change the water in birdbaths and pet dishes, and drain water from flowerpots and other.

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South Dakota

SD Lottery Lucky For Life winning numbers for Jan. 15, 2026

Published

4 hours ago

January 16, 2026

Press Room

The South Dakota Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Jan. 15, 2026, results for each game:

Winning Lucky For Life numbers from Jan. 15 drawing

03-24-32-39-41, Lucky Ball: 18

Check Lucky For Life payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your prize

Prizes of $100 or less: Can be claimed at any South Dakota Lottery retailer.
Prizes of $101 or more: Must be claimed from the Lottery. By mail, send a claim form and a signed winning ticket to the Lottery at 711 E. Wells Avenue, Pierre, SD 57501.
Any jackpot-winning ticket for Dakota Cash or Lotto America, top prize-winning ticket for Lucky for Life, or for the second prizes for Powerball and Mega Millions must be presented in person at a Lottery office. A jackpot-winning Powerball or Mega Millions ticket must be presented in person at the Lottery office in Pierre.

When are the South Dakota Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
Lucky for Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
Lotto America: 9:15 p.m. CT on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Dakota Cash: 9 p.m. CT on Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Dakota editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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South Dakota

South Dakota looks to space for final stretch of high-speed internet access initiative

Published

16 hours ago

January 15, 2026

Press Room

South Dakota looks to space for final stretch of high-speed internet access initiative

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South Dakota

Property rights coalition proposes more limits on eminent domain in SD

Published

1 day ago

January 15, 2026

Press Room

Property rights coalition proposes more limits on eminent domain in SD

Meghan O’Brien
| South Dakota Searchlight

A South Dakota coalition is proposing new legislation to further limit eminent domain and increase landowner protections.
One proposal is a state constitutional amendment to ban the use of eminent domain for private gain.
Another bill, named the “Bossly Bill,” aims to protect landowners from invasive tactics during land access negotiations.

PIERRE, S.D. — The South Dakota coalition that successfully pushed for a state ban on eminent domain for carbon capture pipelines last winter will propose broader limits on eminent domain and more protections for landowners this legislative session.

Sen. Mark Lapka, R-Leola, announced the efforts. One would send a proposed state constitutional amendment to voters in November that would further restrict eminent domain.

“Codified law is too easily amendable over time,” Lapka said. “It’s the constitutionally protected rights that hold firm forever.”

The amendment would “eliminate eminent domain for private gain,” Lapka said, while allowing for public works projects such as public highways, water lines and other infrastructure.

Eminent domain is a legal process for gaining access to privately owned land when a deal can’t be reached with landowners. It’s often used for public infrastructure projects. It became controversial in South Dakota when Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions attempted to use it for a five-state pipeline that would capture carbon dioxide from ethanol plants and transport it to an underground sequestration site in North Dakota. The project would benefit from federal tax credits incentivizing the prevention of heat-trapping emissions into the atmosphere.

Landowner opposition to the Summit project in South Dakota culminated in the Legislature’s passage of a law last year banning carbon pipelines from using eminent domain. Summit is still pursuing the project and has permits in other states, but has been denied permits twice by South Dakota’s Public Utilities Commission.

Lapka announced his new proposals at a property rights rally Monday in the state Capitol rotunda, attended by dozens of South Dakota farmers, ranchers and lawmakers.

SD bill named after Jared Bossly of Aberdeen

Along with the constitutional amendment, Lapka announced what he’s calling the “Bossly Bill,” named for Jared Bossly, of rural Aberdeen, who is suing Summit Carbon Solutions for allegedly trespassing on his land while it was asserting its right to use eminent domain.

Lapka said the bill will mirror language in a decision by the South Dakota Supreme Court in 2024. The decision said Summit had not proven it was a common carrier. That meant the company could not use eminent domain to access landowners’ property.

Lapka’s bill would “clean up” the language that exists in state law, he said, and protect against “invasive tactics.”

There was a bill introduced last legislative session that would have empowered citizens to sue for allegedly deceptive practices, fraud, harassment, intimidation or misrepresentation during the acquisition of land access agreements by carbon pipeline land agents. The bill narrowly failed in the Senate after passing the House.

The text of the bills announced by Lapka had not been released as of Monday afternoon. The 2026 session of the South Dakota Legislature begins Tuesday and continues through March.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, the nation’s largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.

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