K-State Entomologists Asking Kansans to Report Dead Birds 5/14/03

MANHATTAN, Kan. – West Nile virus (WNV) experts at Kansas State University are again asking Kansans for help. The entomologists need to hear about newly dead birds among the species known to be at risk from the disease.

In rare cases, the mosquito-carried virus can lead to serious disease for infected humans. It kills about 30 percent of unvaccinated, infected horses, said Ludek Zurek, medical-veterinary entomologist for K-State Research and Extension. But each year’s first WNV victims are likely to be susceptible birds, including bluejays, crows, ravens or raptors (birds of prey).

The entomologists again started trapping Kansas mosquitoes for study in March, Zurek said. The surveillance team will continue monitoring the situation through fall, attempting to learn more about mosquito diversity, the insects’ distribution across the state, the actual High Plains mosquito "season," and mosquitoes’ role as a disease vector.

West Nile Virus Watch - To Report Bird Victims:

1. Only report dead birds of prey (eagles, hawks, owls) or members of the Corvidae family, including bluejays, ravens and crows (not starlings). Remember, the virus in birds becomes increasingly hard to identify as time passes and air temperatures go up. Under outdoor conditions, more than 24 hours after the bird’s death is always too long.

2. Don’t report birds killed by accident or in groups. (Mosquitoes don’t swarm to attack whole flocks.)

3. To collect a sample, insert your hand into a plastic bag. Pick up the bird with that plastic-covered hand. Peel the bag inside out (off your hand and onto the bird), never directly touching the bird or exposing yourself to any parasites and bacteria it may be carrying.

4. Seal or twist-tie the bag. Then insert it into another bag, which you also seal or tie.

5. Get the double-bagged sample into the freezer as soon as possible. It cannot harm frozen foods.

6. Call K-State Research and Extension’s West Nile virus hotline at 1-866-452-7810 (or, in the Manhattan area, at 532-2569). Be prepared to describe the bird and the circumstances under which you found it.

After May 20, the surveillance team will ask you to take a qualified sample to your local Research and Extension office for quick shipping – so long as your county hasn’t already submitted 10 birds during the month (or three that week) or had any of these three results: (1) two positive WNV tests from birds; (2) a positive reading from the county’s pools of mosquitoes; or (3) a clinical WNV diagnosis for either an infected horse or an infected human resident.

7. For help or more information, consult the World Wide Web at http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/westnilevirus, call your county’s K-State Research and Extension agents, or contact your local health or sanitation department.

"The reports on birds are valuable in helping us get an idea about the distribution and severity of each year’s West Nile outbreak. On May 20, we’ll start following up on some reports by asking Kansans to take their approved sample to their local Extension office, where it will be cold-shipped to Manhattan for West Nile virus testing," he said.

For that reason, Zurek requests that before or soon after people make a report, they also collect and freeze the bird they find, following a specific set of guidelines." (See sidebar.)

To help Kansans participate, the team is maintaining a toll-free hotline into K-State’s Department of Entomology labs at 866-452-7810 and a Manhattan telephone number at 785-532-2569.

"If your bird meets our criteria for testing but you don’t live near your county’s Extension office, your local health or sanitation department will take care of the shipping," the entomologist said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is funding the nation’s efforts to track WNV, working through agencies such as the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. The KDHE has been coordinating state efforts – including the surveillance team’s – for several years, Zurek said.

Other than birds, the state’s first known WNV victim was a Cowley County horse that died Aug. 8, 2002. K-State’s College of Veterinary Medicine labs confirmed it as positive for the virus Aug. 9.

By last year’s end, the disease had infected 793 horses in Kansas, at least 170 at-risk birds and 22 humans. No one knows how many of the horses had also died, Zurek said. All of the birds had succumbed, however, and all of the humans had recovered.

Plus, K-State’s entomologists had discovered that more species of WNV-carrying Culex mosquitoes live in Kansas than previous records indicated.

Some species prefer breeding in rural areas, particularly where farmers irrigate crops or natural wetlands occur. Some breed in dumps and debris, where empty containers can collect rainwater. Some breed in home guttering, bird baths, pet bowls, moisture-collecting leaves, potted plants or heavily watered landscapes.

That’s why two other ways Kansans can aid the state in dealing with West Nile virus this year is by getting rid of potential breeding sites and protecting themselves outdoors with DEET- or permethrin-containing repellents, Zurek said.

K-State Research and Extension already is helping Kansans monitor the disease’s progress through 2003 with a Website that provides weekly state updates, as well as instructions for reporting dead birds, in-depth safety information and links to WNV sites nationwide (http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/westnilevirus).

K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and regional research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus, Manhattan.