Date:         Thu, 5 Sep 2002 00:21:34 -0400
Reply-To:     Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
Sender:       Maryland Birds & Birding <MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM>
From:         Hans Holbrook <HansHolbrook@MSN.COM>
Subject:      Re: Crows and West Nile Virus
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Thank You David,

For one, crows tend to gather in big flocks leaving other areas void.  Ha=
gerstown/Washinton County has huge flocks during the winter that look lik=
e pics from a horror flick in the evening when they are coming to roost. =
 At night, the sky is covered with them, it is almost frieghtening.  If W=
est Nile was as bad as the media has hyped it up to be, I find it interst=
ing that not one of us out looking at shorebirds lately has been struck d=
own by the virus, being as how we tend to spend alot of time in marshland=
.  Birdwatchers spend ALOT of time in mosquito habitat, and while sometim=
es I don't feel well for a week, we all still seem to be able to post our=
 sightings.  That brings to question, have 'we' (the government) tried in=
fecting the average person with WVN, and if so is the media posting the r=
esults?  I don't think so.  What is going to hurt the bird population the=
 most is the spraying on insects, as it will greatly reduce food for our =
neotropical migrants not to mention the rest of them.  I had better stop =
now before I get into any politcal ramblings.

Hans Holbrook
Columbia, MD

ps-I guess when you grow up with yellow fever, dengue, and malaria... som=
ething like West Nile don't seem that bad!
 =20
----- Original Message -----
From: David Mozurkewich
Sent: Wednesday, September 04, 2002 11:20 PM
To: MDOSPREY@HOME.EASE.LSOFT.COM
Subject: Re: [MDOSPREY] Crows in Rock Creek Park and West Nile Virus
 =20
On Wed, 4 Sep 2002, Zucker, Paul A. wrote:

> Have others in our area had similar experiences?  Has West Nile decimat=
ed
> our Crow population?

No, there are plenty of crows around.  And lots of other birds.  And west
vile nirus is not a treat to any of them.  It is just a lot of media hype=
;
scare tactics sell papers.

Think about it.  The stories we are hearing about this plague simply don'=
t
add up.  That this disease is so devastating to so many species of birds
is simply inconsistent with everything we know about it.

1.  WNV is rampant in Europe.  It has not devastated even one species
there.

2.  In people, this is a remarkably benign disease.  Usually, the victim
suffers and recovers never knowing he was sick.  The only people who have
died had "... compromised immune systems".  I read that as "... they
probably would have died soon anyway."  Most people who die from AIDS
actually die from some opportunistic infection that takes advantage of th=
e
weakened patient.  But you shouldn't blame the opportunistic infection fo=
r
the death.  You should contribute the death to the underlying cause.

3.  During the early stages of this epidemic, most of the dead birds
turned in had died of pesticide poisoning, not WNV.  This means doing
anything besides ignoring the disease will do more harm than good.

Also remember that two events happening at the same time does not prove
that they are related.  That a bird tests positive for WNV and is sick in
no way implicates the virus as making the bird sick.  Most viral
infections are confirmed by the detection of antibodies in the blood.
But detecting antibodies does not mean the bird is sick.  It only means
that at some time in the past the bird came in contact with the virus.
As the virus spreads, more and more dead birds will test positive.  This
is exactly what we are seeing and it tells us nothing about whether the
birds are dying from the virus.

I would not be surprised if we lack even a single, well-documented case o=
f
an otherwise healthy bird dying from an infection of West Nile Virus.  Ha=
s
anyone tried infecting healthy birds in a lab environment to see what
happens?

Dave
David Mozurkewich
Seabrook, PG MD USA
mozurk @ bellAtlantic.net

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