Hi All:

See below for original posts.
I've read several articles about how testing dead birds for West Nile Virus has provided a wealth of information about the *other* diseases that birds die from. Also, some species of birds are much more susceptible to WNV than others, so surely those in a position to do testing are not assuming WNV without a confirmed diagnosis (I hope).

Ruth Taylor
Seattle/Ballard
rutht at seanet.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Parent Family <dpdvm at whidbey.com>
To: LDavey at aol.com <LDavey at aol.com>; tweeters at u.washington.edu <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, August 30, 2003 9:31 PM
Subject: RE: Dead crow


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.

Most health departments now assume that WNV is in the area so there is no need to spend money on diagnosis or monitoring.



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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