Date: Thu, 5 Sep 2002 09:16:43 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Philip Webre Subject: Re: Crows in Rock Creek Park and West Nile Virus Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Content-Disposition: inline Even if West Nile Virus in rampant in Europe, it still could be a threat = to U.S. bird populations. After all, when the European human diseases = came to the new world, they decimated the native human populations. I agree with argument that the disease is getting more than its share of = publicity, like shark attacks last summer. But that doesn't mean that = sharks don't bite. Philip Webre Chevy Chase, MD >>> David Mozurkewich 09/04/02 11:21PM >>> On Wed, 4 Sep 2002, Zucker, Paul A. wrote: > Have others in our area had similar experiences? Has West Nile = decimated > 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 the weakened patient. But you shouldn't blame the opportunistic infection for 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 of an otherwise healthy bird dying from an infection of West Nile Virus. Has anyone tried infecting healthy birds in a lab environment to see what happens? Dave David Mozurkewich Seabrook, PG MD USA mozurk @ bellAtlantic.net =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com=20 with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D =========================================================================