Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) is a naturally emerging disease threat and a highly developed biological weapon. VEEV is the most important human and equine pathogen of the New World alphaviruses (Togaviridae: Alphavirus). VEEV causes periodic outbreaks of febrile and neurological disease. VEE was first recognized as a disease of horses, mules, and donkeys in northern South America during the 1930s. VEEV, was first isolated in 1938 from the brains of fatal equine cases in Yaracuy State, Venezuela. VEEV is a spherical virus 70 nm in diameter and a messenger-sense, single-stranded RNA genome approximately 11,400 nucleotides in length [Ref331:Weaver et al., 2004].