Officials work to control spread of West Nile virus

State health officials are working with local animal control agencies to collect and dispose of dead birds in an effort to track and contain the spread of West Nile virus in California.

The California Department of Health Services Web site (www.westnile.ca.gov) reports that there has been one case of a bird infected with West Nile in San Joaquin County, a dead barn owl found north of Stockton.

Lodi Animal Shelter workers say they receive an average of three calls a day about dead birds. They refer the callers to the state health department's hotline (877-968-2473) to determine if the bird could possible carry the virus.

Only certain bird breeds (crows, ravens, magpies and jays) that have been dead for less than 48 hours are collected by local animal services and picked up by state officials for testing.

Most of the birds Lodi Animal Shelter picks up do not meet this criteria. But some have been passed off to state officials. No tested birds from Lodi have been carriers of West Nile virus, said Jennifer Jordan, an animal services officer.

"People are aware of (West Nile), which is good. I'd rather have people be cautious," she said.

Dead birds are indicators of the spread of the virus, so locals are urged to report them. Mosquitos also feed off infected birds and can transmit the virus to people.

"It's definitely a good thing. We want to encourage people to be aware, and the more aware they are, the stronger our enforcement, surveillance and prevention can be," said Norma Arceo, spokeswoman for the Department of Health Services.

On July 19 in Wilton, a yellow-billed magpie was found to be infected with the virus, bringing the number of West Nile-infected birds in Sacramento County up to seven.

West Nile virus is a mosquito-borne disease common in Africa and first spotted in the U.S. in 1999.

It was first detected in California September of last year and resurfaced again this April in Southern California. Seven counties have human cases. Nineteen counties have detected the virus, either in humans, horses, birds or mosquito pools.

Currently, there are 52 people infected with West Nile in the state. The first and only victim of West Nile in California was a 57-year-old southern California man who died July 22.