[Bristol-Birds] Am Robin now being used for West Nile Virus surveillance
- From: david kirschke <dkirschke@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: Bristol Birds <bristol-birds@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 2 May 2007 11:52:37 -0700 (PDT)
FYI. Recently deceased American Robins are now being accepted by the state
health department, along with Am Crows and Blue Jays, for testing for West Nile
Virus as an indicator of virus transmission between birds and mosquitos (and
resulting increased risk of human exposure). (See below.) To submit or report
a dead bird, contact your local health department.
David Kirschke, MD
Northeast Tennessee Regional Health Office
Johnson City, TN
The American Robin is added this year to our statewide West Nile virus
surveillance efforts. In the previous few years we have only accepted crows and
blue jays. There are various reasons for adding robins to our list in Tennessee:
1. The majority of birds submitted for testing have been blue jays. This
means that we are relying almost exclusively on one species of bird for
surveillance in a state that has few mosquito control and surveillance
programs. Areas without such programs depend on bird surveillance therefore we
need to have a more robust bird surveillance effort.
2. Studies from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven
have shown that Culex pipiens and Culex restuans mosquitoes (primary vectors of
West Nile virus) feed predominantly on robins than on any other bird species.
Additionally, robins have been shown to amplify the virus very efficiently.
3. Illinois added robins to their list of birds for surveillance and found
that 1/4 of them tested positive for West Nile virus, showing that they are
indeed good indicators of transmission.
4. Robins are easily identified by the public.
As with all birds accepted for testing, we stress the following criteria
regarding an appropriate specimen:
Ensure the bird is a blue jay, American crow or American robin that is
freshly dead. Usually sunken eyes, odor or the presence of fly larvae (maggots)
are good indicators that the bird has been dead too long.
Today officially begins our 2007 surveillance season for West Nile!
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