- WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal
officials said on Wednesday a dead blue jay found near Cleveland in Lake
County, Ohio was infected with the West Nile virus, representing the farthest
west that the deadly virus has been identified.
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- The dead bird was found on July 11 and tissue samples
were sent for testing to the U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health
Center in Madison, Wisconsin, officials at the agency said. Two different
tests confirmed the presence of the virus, they added.
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- The mosquito-borne illness has killed at least eight
people since surfacing in the northeastern United States two years ago.
The virus can cause deadly encephalitis or meningitis in birds, humans
and other mammals.
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- ``It's not very surprising to see the virus continue
its spread along the shores of Lake Erie,'' Dr. Robert McLean, director
of the National Wildlife Health Center, said in a statement. ``Last year,
a pool of mosquitoes carrying the virus was identified two counties away
in Erie County, Pennsylvania.''
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- The infected blue jay was found near Concord, Ohio, about
27 miles (43 km) northeast of Cleveland. McLean said it is likely the bird
was infected locally and did not fly to the area carrying the virus.
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- ``Blue jays are a short-distance migrant and they generally
stay in the same area during the summer breeding season. So we think that
the bird was infected nearby, which means the virus is most likely active
in the area,'' McLean said.
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- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said last
month that the virus was being found this year at levels double those found
in bird populations last year.
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- Most states along the Atlantic Coast as well as the District
of Columbia have reported some exposure to the virus since it struck the
New York City area in 1999.
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- West Nile, which was common in Africa and Asia for decades
but unknown in the Americas until 1999, is spread to humans by the bite
of an infected mosquito. The virus is not transmitted from human to human,
or from birds to humans.
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- Most people who contract West Nile suffer nothing more
than headaches and flu-like symptoms, but the elderly, chronically ill
and those with weak immune systems can develop encephalitis when infected.
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- If detected early, the virus can be diagnosed and the
symptoms treated before serious infections result.
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