Linda and Tweets,



I'm a veterinarian who does some wildlife work. The crow that Linda
describes could certainly have died of West Nile Virus (WNV) or any of a
number of different causes. One of the clinical signs is abnormal
thirst. I have treated two barred owls in the past year that were
drinking excessively, camped out on birdbaths. Neither lived and I
couldn't afford to have them tested. Most health departments now assume
that WNV is in the area so there is no need to spend money on diagnosis
or monitoring. I looked at one list of birds known to have been infected
with WNV and there seemed to be very few bird species NOT on the list. I
think it's safe to assume that all birds are susceptible. I treat every
bird with neurological dysfunction (except the know window bashers) as
if it has WNV.



As far as we know, dogs and cats (and probably raccoons) mount an
antibody response to the virus but do not show clinical signs of the
disease. We have vaccinated the local falconers' raptors with the horse
vaccine (horses are susceptible and we had a case earlier in the year on
Whidbey Island) but the jury's still out on the efficacy. It is
possible, though probably rare, to get the disease from contact with an
infected animal.



There's a lot we don't know. A lot of questions unanswered.



Dave Parent, DVM

Freeland WA dpdvm at whidbey.com



-----Original Message-----
From: TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu
[mailto:TWEETERS-owner at u.washington.edu] On Behalf Of LDavey at aol.com
Sent: Saturday, August 30, 2003 8:05 PM
To: tweeters at u.washington.edu
Subject: Dead crow



Tweets:



About an hour ago, I walked out onto our dock on Pine Lake for a little
end of the day R&R. I noticed a crow sitting in the water, an inch or
two deep, just at the water's edge. I was fairly close, but my passing
by didn't faze it. I told my husband about the crow, and he looked
through the binocs, and agreed with me that it was odd that a crow was
just sitting in the water.



About half an hour later, my husband looked again at the crow, and
announced the crow was face down in the water. Upon closer inspection,
we realized the crow was dead. We were prepared to retrieve it for
testing, but first decided to read the information provided by the
Health Dept. This bird seemed to meet all the criteria, and might have
been considered, if not for the fact that it died on a Saturday. Oh
well.



My question is, does anyone know if West Nile has been discovered in
crows in our area? I try to keep up, but frankly I can't find much
detailed info. Also, IF this crow was infected, and another animal
munched on it, would it pass on the virus? We've got lots of wildlife
around here, including a Mom Raccoon with three babies, and in the next
yard over, there's five dogs.



Just curious,



Linda Davey

Sammamish, WA

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