False: Cases of COVID-19 in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, were seen long before the first cases in the U.S were reported.

There is no evidence that COVID-19 was in Jackson Hole, Wyoming in the fall of 2019, as claimed Dr Brent Blue.In April 2020, Dr. Brent Blue, a physician from Jackson, Wyoming, said that COVID-19 had arrived in the U.S long before cases were first reported in Washington on January 19, 2020. He said that many people in the town had come down with an illness, referred to as "the Crud", before this time, but that he believed the illness was in fact COVID-19. Symptoms typically included a persistent cough and cold like symptoms. However, Dr. Jim Little Jr, another physician based in Jackson, told reporters that the illnesses seen in Jackson were not COVID-19. Patients who visited Little’s clinic in December and January with flu-like symptoms tested positive for Influenza A or B. Furthermore, he said that COVID-19 has a unique presentation on CT chest scans, and that he had not come across an illness like it before. Bucks Rail published a follow up to the story. An editor's note added that the publication had "failed to provide both sides of the story." The publication expanded on the previous article on Blue's comments, noting that it was unlikely that COVID-19 had reached the U.S in November or December, and added comments from Little stating that it "certainly" was not wide spread in Jackson Hole in January 2020. The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the first cluster of cases of COVID-19 were seen in in Wuhan, China in December 2019. In July 2020, the Jackson Hole News and Guide reported that Blue said that his clinic would not report positive COVID-19 results, as it could "contribute to panic and anxiety." The Wyoming News Exchange reported that number of active COVID-19 cases in the state grew by 1303 on August 11, the highest increase within a day since mid January. We have marked this claim as false as there is no evidence to demonstrated that cases had been seen in Jackson in 2019. This claim has been updated to include additional information added to Buckrail's initial report. The COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to a lot of potentially dangerous misinformation. For reliable advice on COVID-19, including symptoms, prevention, and available treatment, please refer to the World Health Organization or your national healthcare authority.