Wendy Shepard

 

Wendy Shepard lived in Jarales, New Mexico her whole life, and owned the local diner.  Most of her time was spent working inside, but when she wasn't working she was out gathering food at farms nearby or sitting on the patio overlooking the river.  The only time she sprayed pesticides was when they were noticeably bad, otherwise she and the customers tolerated them.  On the night of September 4th, she treated a few bug bites and thought she was coming down with a bad cold.  She slept for over a day and woke up on the 6th with a high fever and began hallucinating.  The diner manager took her to the hospital where she was treated for dehydration and given antibiotics.  The next day she slipped into a coma.  The presence of an unknown agent was detected.  IV antiviral agents, steroids, and fluids were administered, but proved unsuccessful.  She succumbed to her illness on September 7th.