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Re: report of West Nile Virus killing wild and captive raptors



Researchers at William and Mary reported losing two first year Peregrine
Falcons to West Nile this year.
                                                       Reece Mitchell
                                                       Flat Rock
----- Original Message -----
From: "Fred Houk" <fred@counterculturecoffee.com>
To: "carolinabirds" <carolinabirds@duke.edu>
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 7:39 PM
Subject: Fw: report of West Nile Virus killing wild and captive raptors


> Fred Houk here, from Chatham County, NC...
> I have worked closely with Mark Johns, head of NC Partners in Flight,
> over the years in coffee/bird migration work.  He forwarded this to me,
> about West Nile Virus and raptors, a while back.
>
> Come to think of it, there MAY be a connection with the "positive
> sighting" by a trained ornithology grad student, of the Ivory Bill
> Woodpecker, West Nile Virus, and the subsequent lack of any further
> sightings...wouldn't that be sad???
>
> Anyway, this is for  Johnathon Steere, who asked about WNV and
> raptors...
> -------------------------------
>
> Subject: Fw: report of West Nile Virus killing wild and captive raptors
>
>
> From: "Mark E. Johns" <johnsme@mindspring.com>
> Subject: Re: report of West Nile Virus killing wild and captive raptors
>
> More info on West Nile ecology and species that are susceptible to it
> can be found at the CDC website:
> http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/birds&mammals.htm
> From the Birdband listserver comes this report about
> the spread of the mosquito-transmitted West Nile Virus
> to raptors in widely separated areas:
>
> LABIRD:
> > > Steve Barry (Wildlife Project Leader), Crane Creek
> > > Wildlife Research Station, Ohio, has reported a die-off of raptors.
> So far, rough estimates indicate that 100-125 Great-Horned Owls, 2
> captive Golden Eagles, and
> numerous hawk species have been found dead.  Seven of
> 8 specimens sent to the Ohio Health Department tested positive for WNV.
> The USGS National Wildlife Health Lab in Madison, Wisconsin is assisting
> in the analysis of the Ohio raptor die-off. In addition, the
> OhioDivision of Wildlife has reported an " enormous number" of telephone
> calls from citizens who are reporting additional dead or dying and other
> birds.  Since Louisiana has reported more human infections from WNV than
> any other state thus far this season, one has to wonder what the
> mortality rate may be among Louisiana birds.
>
> submitted by Stan Moore      San Geronimo, CA    hawkman11@hotmail.com
>
>
>
>