On March 13, 1990, in Clay County, Nebraska, a tornado stirred up a windstorm that passed directly over a farm that contained pseudorabies-infected swine. The windstorm blew the virus to the plaintiff's farm and infected its swine, resulting in sickness and death. The affected swine were used for breeding.

A few months before the incident, the plaintiff, Curtis O. Griess & Sons, Inc (Griess), purchased an insurance policy from Farm Bureau Insurance Company of Nebraska (Farm Bureau) to cover its livestock. The policy included windstorm as a covered peril, but infectious disease was not mentioned in the policy. Griess submitted a claim to Farm Bureau for the vet bills to treat the infected swine, and for the money it had to return to clients since it could no longer sell those swine. The surviving, infected swine could no longer be used for breeding and had to be slaughtered.

Farm Bureau denied coverage stating windstorm does not include the transmission of an airborne virus. Griess filed a lawsuit and was provided partial summary judgment in its favor. The district court found that the windstorm was the direct and proximate cause of loss. Since Farm Bureau did not agree with the ruling, it filed an appeal.

Farm Bureau did not dispute that the windstorm transmitted the virus to the Griess' farm or that the swine became infected. It argued that the airborne transmission of the virus was not covered under the policy. Farm Bureau maintained that the windstorm was not the immediate reason; rather, the loss was from the virus and other prior conditions, which made the swine susceptible to illness. While the virus was the cause of the death and sickness to the swine, it would not have occurred had the windstorm not blown it to the Griess farm. Even if the swine were susceptible to sickness, the direct source of the illness came by way of the windstorm.

However, the court found that the language of the policy was unambiguous. The appellate court agreed and affirmed the district court. The court used the example that the wind did not need to physically blow the infected swine to the Griess farm for coverage to apply. The windstorm set the loss in motion and treated the windborne virus no differently from other objects. Thus, the windstorm is the direct cause of injury and transmitted the virus. The appellate court found the insurer was liable for the vet bills, the client reimbursements, and the attorney fees.

Curtis O. Griess & Sons, Inc., a Nebraska Corporations, Appellee, v. Farm Bureau Insurance Company of Nebraska, A Nebraska Insurance Corporations, Appellant, NO.S-93-342, March 10, 1995.