West Nile Virus: Death to our loved Parrots, they are infected by Mosquito Bites!

[danmcq]

We have crows and other birds being picked up nnow which died from west nile virus. I will not take my birds outside when the mosquitos are active.

 

News Quote:

 

"County begins bird collecting, testing for West Nile virus

The Ocean County Health Department (OCHD) is advising residents that the West Nile virus (WNV) season is approaching. As in previous years, the OCHD will continue surveillance efforts into next fall to ensure the safety and protection of residents.

 

Testing of birds will be done to the entire corvid family; the most common corvids in New Jersey are crows and blue jays, said Leslie Terjesen, OCHD public information officer. “County residents can help the health department control West Nile virus by reporting dead crows or blue jays that they find on their property by calling 732-341- 9700, ext. 7502, or toll free at 800-342- 9738, ext. 7502,” said Freeholder Gerry P. Little, liaison to the Ocean County Board of Health. “The location of all dead crows or blue jays is recorded and can be accessed and addressed by the Ocean County Mosquito Commission.”

 

Terjesen said, “Dead crows and blue jays will be picked up by staff from the OCHD. If residents choose to bring a dead bird to our headquarters or remove it to another area, please use gloves when handling dead birds or any wildlife.”"

[Jayd]

Hear what Dan says! Don't even pick up a feather out side..........

[judygram]

Thanks Dan for sharing that with us, thats really scarey.

[chelseaB]

I also live in the San Joaquin valley & I am very concerned with keeping the mosquitos away from Biscotti. How to you guard against the rouge mosquito that occasionaly get into the house? We have been vaccinating the horses for several years now, I wonder if there will ever be a vaccine for people & other species. We have tons of magpies, crows, jays etc... & the abatement people collect the dead ones for testing. This is a very rural area with lots of irrigating during the warm months, so lots of mosquito breeding grounds. This is a great worry & very disturbing to think about.

Edited May 18, 2010 by chelseaB

[Luvparrots]

My grandson is allergic to mosquito bites/bee stings. So when we use to go camping we would cover him in Avon Skin So Soft. Best insect repellent around. Also marigold plants are a great mosquito deterrent. Perhaps I will also get some venus flytrap plants for the bird room. Thanks for the heads up Professor!!!

[Joolesgreyuk]

What great ideas Janet! Especially the Avon skin so soft!

 

One benefit to having a cooler climate I guess is that we don't have such problems but very worrying for those that do. How about having window boxes filled with marigolds to try to keep them away from the house and lots of venus flytraps for those that do get in. I know a lot of houses (in places with mosquito problems) have netted shutters, if you don't have these then why not fit them or cover windows with netting. Even net curtaining or voils will surely help, we have voils on some of our windows and they also keep the birds from flying into them.

[pearllyn]

My goodness, that must be such a worry. The Skin-so-soft is a good idea though - at least as a deterrant, I've used it also, I think it's the green one that's more effective against the bugs. Keep all your birdies safe.

[ranaz]

dont they have feathers so soft version???

I guess the window mosquito net is a must

 

Thank God that despite the terrible heat here we dont have this... Good luck to all of you

[danmcq]

I also live in the San Joaquin valley & I am very concerned with keeping the mosquitos away from Biscotti. How to you guard against the rouge mosquito that occasionaly get into the house?

 

I know Chelsea, they are saying this is one of the worst years for Mosquitoes in decades due to the continued rain, ground soaked and pools of stagnant water lying around in too many areas for the abatement control to keep up with.

 

There is no way to stop a rogue mosquito in the house. I have no clue how that "One gets in every once in a while, but they do. Perhaps as we open doors to go out and in one whisks by.

 

The good news, is in the heat of the day in the valley, mosquitos are not normally out in swarms. It is the early morning an evening hours that are filled wth them actively performing their vampish evil deed. I will roll the cages out during the late morning when it's 90 and give the birds some sun and a shower for about an hour.

 

At nnight, as always when the biirds are caged, both are completely covered and I doubt that one rogue mosquito will get to them, normally it's me or my wife that might get bit.

 

I don't know if you have been folowing the local news but:

 

An aerial survey of Visalia indicates there will be more pools to stock with mosquito-eating fish. Last year, workers in Visalia treated about 1,000 pools. Homeowners are not charged for the fish or the service.

The same conditions hold for the Fresno Mosquito and Vector Control District. Manager Tim Phillips had hoped for less pool work this year, "but we haven't seen that yet," he said. His office has a list of 1,325 pools to inspect and possibly treat. By contrast, in 2006, workers treated 400 pools, he said. "Then it went to 900 and to 1,000 and to 1,300 -- and that's where we are now."

The Consolidated Mosquito Abatement District, which covers most of Clovis, has about 900 pools identified from last year. And calls about suspected breeding pools keep coming, said Manager Steve Mulligan.

This year, Mulligan said, more people who have bought foreclosed homes are calling for help. The pools are in disrepair, and new homeowners cannot yet afford to fix them, he said.

Wendy Christian requested mosquitofish last week at her northeast Fresno home. When she bought the house in July, the pool had been drained. She can't fill it until it's repaired.

Christian, 45, tries to keep the pool empty. But that has been a never-ending battle against the weather. "We'll drain it -- and it rains," she said.

The last couple of weeks, several feet of water collected in the deep end, and she called Consolidated. "We love to spend time in our backyard, but we're being eaten alive by mosquitoes," Christian said.

It's difficult to predict exactly how severe West Nile virus will be this spring and summer, state health officials say. But there will be more mosquito breeding habitats than typical because of the winter rains.

As the snow pack melts, rivers in the Valley will swell, creating new places for mosquitoes to nest. And federal officials have refilled the dry parts of the San Joaquin River as part of a vast restoration program.

The communities of Kerman, Tranquility and Mendota could be swatting more mosquitoes than usual, said Elizabeth Cline, manager of the Fresno Westside Mosquito Abatement District.

Already, "tree hole" mosquitoes have been busy. These mosquitoes like to make nests in hollowed logs along riverbeds, Cline said. They don't carry West Nile virus, but they do carry heartworm, a parasite that is potentially deadly to dogs and cats, she said.

All dogs and cats in the Valley should be given a preventive medication for heartworm, said Cheryl Waterhouse, a Fresno veterinarian.

Horses are susceptible to West Nile virus, and a vaccine is available for them, mosquito-control officials said. But there's no vaccine for humans. People should wear protective clothing or mosquito repellent to ward off bites.

As warm weather arrives, it will kick mosquito breeding season into high gear.

"Mosquitoes develop faster when the weather is warmer," said Vicki Kramer, chief of the Vector-Borne Disease Section at the California Department of Public Health.

Kramer reminds people to report dead birds and squirrels to the state health department. The deaths can signal that West Nile virus is active in an area, she said. The state tracks the reports -- regardless of whether the birds or squirrels are picked up for testing, she said.

Mosquito-control officials said people should report abandoned and neglected pools, and survey their backyards for anything that can hold water -- wheelbarrows, buckets, old tires.

"Everything that's holding water certainly is growing mosquitoes right now," said Phillips of the Fresno mosquito control district.

[danmcq]

Here is a an official write up by the CDC on West Nile Virus spread. One thing I find of importance, is it seems Old World Parrots are not as suseptable to this diease as new world Parrots, poultry seems to not be harmed by it at all and the Family Corvid's (Crows) seem to be the most suseptable. One thing I gleaned from this article, is Mosquitoes do in fact bite birds and thus the cycle of disease transmission spreads.

 

The write up:

 

 

Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus in the Old World

 

Migratory birds have long been suspected as the principal introductory hosts of West Nile virus into new regions for the following reasons: Outbreaks of the virus in temperate regions generally occur during late summer or early fall, coinciding with the arrival of large concentrations of migratory birds (and mosquitoes) (18-20); these outbreaks often occur among humans living in or near wetlands where high concentrations of birds come into contact with large numbers of ornithophilic mosquitoes (7,21,22); the principal vectors from which the virus has been isolated are mainly ornithophilic mosquitoes (Culex univittatus in the Middle East and C. pipiens in Europe) (7,13,14,18,22); antibodies to the virus have been found in the blood of many migratory bird species in Eurasia (14,15,22-24); migratory birds have been linked with transporting related viruses in the Western Hemisphere (9,25,26); West Nile virus has been isolated from some species of actively migrating birds (e.g., the Barred Warbler [Sylvia risoria] in Cyprus and the Turtle Dove [Streptopelia turtur] in Slovakia (20,23,24); viremia sufficiently long-term to infect vector mosquitoes has been documented in several bird species (18,19,27-29); and migration places substantial physiologic stress on birds. Stress has been shown to promote immunosuppression and enhanced replication of West Nile virus in rodents (30).

 

Further support for the possibility that migratory birds play a major role in virus transport comes from study of related viruses. For instance, both Eastern (EEE) and Western Equine Encephalomyelitis alphaviruses, ecologic relatives of West Nile virus, have been isolated from actively migrating birds in the United States (25,26). Evidence also indicates that the 1962 epidemic of EEE in Jamaica resulted from transport of the virus by birds from the continental United States (31).

 

Unlike the 1999 New York City epidemic, during which large numbers of dead and dying birds, especially crows, were observed concurrently with clinical reports of human infection with the virus (3), the Old World epidemics of West Nile virus had few concurrent reports of deaths of infected birds (7). This difference could indicate lack of both exposure and adaptation to the virus among New World avian populations compared with Old World species. Old World data indicate that susceptibility to fatal infection with the virus varies markedly for adult and young birds, with high death rates in juvenile and high incidence of circulating antibodies in adult birds (19). Susceptibility to infection also varies considerably among species. Hooded Crows (Corvus corone) had both a high death rate in young birds in laboratory experiments and high levels of circulating antibodies in adults, while Rock Doves (Columba livia) appeared to be much less susceptible to both infection and death from the virus (19).

Migratory Birds and West Nile Virus in the New World

 

As was the case for humans, the first birds documented as infected with West Nile virus in the Western Hemisphere were identified in August 1999 (6). Thereafter, large die-offs of wild and captive birds at the Bronx Zoo and other parts of the New York area coincided with the increasing number of human cases reported from the same region (1,4,6). As in several European outbreaks, the main vector in the New York City epidemic was identified as the ornithophilic mosquito C. pipiens (4). Furthermore, the outbreak in humans occurred at urban sites near wetlands where migratory birds, ornithophilic mosquitoes, and humans were concentrated. These circumstances, in conjunction with the ecology of the virus in the Old World, support the conjecture that zoo, pet, domestic, or wild birds were responsible for introducing the virus to the New World. If so, birds could have served as the source by normal migration, displacement from normal range by storms, or importation (legal and illegal).

Normal Interhemispheric Migration

 

A small percentage of the populations of a few bird species migrate regularly in August and September from breeding grounds in the Old World to wintering grounds along the eastern seaboard of North America. An example of this group is the Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope), which breeds across the entire Palearctic region from Iceland to Siberia's Kamchatka Peninsula and winters primarily in the temperate and tropical zones of the Old World (32), where contact with West Nile virus is possible. However, a few Eurasian Wigeons, presumably from the Icelandic breeding population, winter regularly along the coast of eastern North America (32,33). These birds could contract the virus from vector mosquitoes infected by biting other members of the breeding population that winter in areas where West Nile virus is prevalent and bring infectious blood to the New World on their winter migrations.

Eurasian Wigeons are not the only species with such a migration pattern. Eurasian populations of several species in which evidence of exposure (e.g., antibodies) to the virus has been detected are rare migrants along the eastern seaboard of North America (Table 1). However, if normal migration were a likely pathway, the virus would likely have become established earlier in this hemisphere, since individual birds of several species known to be susceptible to the virus migrate annually from Eurasia to the United States (Table 1). However, the numbers of migrants are so small that the probability of the cooccurrence of an infectious migrant, ornithophilic vector mosquitoes, and numerous avian amplifying hosts seems low. Furthermore, the most likely form of the virus carried by migrants would be that from West Africa, because that is where most western European-breeding populations of these species winter. The New York City strain of the virus was nearly identical to that found in the Middle East, which is different from the West African strain (13). Despite these considerations, normal migration remains a distinct possibility as the mode of entry for the disease.

Edited May 19, 2010 by danmcq

[Greywings]

Good heads up appreciate it, we are too dry here in Texas right now but fleas are the issue due to the drought, poor dogs.

[chelseaB]

Thanks Dan for sharing all this great info... I think a mosquito net over his cage at night would at least give me some piece of mind. Like you said, the rouge one that gets in the house generally goes for the big red blooded human, usually when you get into bed. bzzzzzz..........

[rbpittman]

South Carolina's state bird is the mosquito, and we've found that Skin So Soft is the best deterrent for the pests, especially while camping. All of our windows have screens and screen doors, however, the little buggers do find their way in on occasion. I purchased several "pitcher plants" that eat flies and other flying insects that I keep indoors year round. It's amazing how many little critters get in when we aren't looking.

 

Robin