The Northwestern Health Unit is gearing up for another season of monitoring the West Nile virus in the Kenora-Rainy River districts and, starting May 29, will be accepting dead crows and ravens suspected of virus-caused deaths.
Al Mathers, environmental health officer with the health unit, said the program will run the same as last year.
“We use it as a means to see how the virus is moving around,” he explained, adding this is the fifth year for the provincially-mandated program.
“Last year, all our positive birds were in Fort Frances and we didn’t have any up here [in Kenora],” added Mathers. “It will be interesting to see how that turns out this year.”
Last year, seven specimens turned into the health unit from the Fort Frances area tested positive. These were the only case-positive specimens in either the Kenora or Rainy River districts.
As such, the health unit stopped accepting birds under the program here last year in mid-August, but continued to accept them in Kenora, Rainy River, Dryden, and elsewhere in the two districts until the first frost.
Since the point of the bird collection program is to determine where the virus has manifested in any of the communities in the health unit’s catchment area, once that’s been verified, Mathers said there’s no point in sending in more dead birds from those areas for testing that season.
To report a suspiciously dead crow or raven, contact the health unit office here during normal office hours or call the after-hours number (1-807-468-7109) with the following information:
•your name, address, and phone number;
•location of the bird, including the town or municipality and street address (if it is a rural property, please provide as accurate a location description as possible);
•the date the bird was first noticed;
•description of the bird (note its size and colour of the feathers, eyes, and beak);
•if you are aware the bird showed any signs of unusual behaviour before it died;
•physical condition of the bird (if there are any signs of trauma or insect activity); and
•the cause of death, if known.
The bird may be suitable for testing:
•if it has recently died;
•if there are no maggots on it; and
•even if it has signs of injury or trauma.
If the bird is suitable, the health unit will pick it up and send it away for testing at the University of Guelph.
If you are told by the health unit that the bird is not suitable for testing, bury it under at least two feet of earth or place it in two leak-proof bags and discard it in the garbage.
Updates on any positive test results will be provided if or when they occur, Mathers said.
In related news, Mathers said the provincial campaign to monitor West Nile virus by collecting mosquito samples will continue this year, with “mosquito traps” set up Fort Frances, Kenora, Dryden, and in the west end of Rainy River District.
Health unit staff in all these areas will use the traps to collect mosquito samples from June or July to early September. The purpose is to determine what species of mosquito are most common in the two districts.
This is the fourth year for this campaign.
During the testing, the health unit is expected, if at all possible, to send in at least two mosquitos per week during the 10-week project.
To do the campaign, the health unit uses mosquito traps, which are comprised of a cylinder cooler, dry ice, a black light, fan, netting, and a small plastic bucket in which to collect the specimens.
The bugs are attracted by the carbon dioxide from the dry ice and black light. When they get close enough, they’re sucked into the netting by the fan.
Specimens collected then are sent in small cups for testing.
In the past, noted Mathers, all of these came back negative for the West Nile virus.
But one discovery the project yielded is that less than one percent of all the samples collected in the region were specimens of the main virus-carrying mosquito species, the Culex (or common house mosquito).
This means the chances of seeing the Culex breed (and thus the virus) here are slim, said Mathers.
Mosquito season usually tapers off in September, Mathers noted, adding any mosquitoes spotted in the latter part of that month are not likely looking for a “blood meal” but instead simply are interested in finding a place to go into stasis for the winter.
Mosquito activity normally drops off after the temperatures at night are at an average of 10 C, he added.
West Nile virus is spread to humans by the bite of an infected mosquito. Mosquitoes become infected by biting an infected bird.
Crows and ravens are particularly susceptible to the virus and thus serve as an effective early-warning indicator.
The virus is not spread by person-to-person contact, and it cannot be spread directly from bird to human, according to the health unit.
The risk of becoming seriously ill as a result of an infection with West Nile virus is low.
In fact, most people who become infected experience no symptoms or have a very mild illness, with fever, headache, muscle weakness, or body aches, the health unit reported.
Those at increased risk of severe illness are individuals over age 50 and people with weakened immune systems.
Symptoms of West Nile virus encephalitis (the rare, serious form of the disease) include severe headache, stiff neck, nausea, and vomiting, as well as altered levels of consciousness and mental states.
(Fort Frances Times)
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
