Laptop Battery Since July, the Mercer County Wildlife Center has seen more great horned owls and red-tailed hawks brought through its doors than ever before. And almost all were suffering from the same disease - West Nile virus.
. (AXcess News) Reports of West Nilevirus are rising on the West Coast even though fall's cooler weather is dampening the reproduction of mosquitos there. San Francisco reported its third case of West Nile virus today. aged man tested positive for West Nile virus but that he was recovering at his home. The other two who contracted West Nile virus, aged man and woman, were likely to have contracted West Nile virus from visits to the Sacramento area, health officials said.
Thinkpad In the last six months, the center has treated 14 hawks and seen all but two die. Meanwhile, only six of 20 owls remain alive, said Diane Nickerson, the center's director.
In a laboratory test, the researchers injected 12 monkeys with the combined virus vaccine and injected eight other monkeys with either the West Nile virus or the dengue virus. Six weeks later, all 20 monkeys were injected with West Nile virus. The dozen that received the combined virus vaccine developed antibodies that successfully protected the animals from the West Nile virus. Human clinical trials with the vaccine are to begin this year, Dr. Brian Murphy, a researcher in NIAID's Laboratory of Infectious Diseases, said Monday.
Microsoft In 2002, 798 crows found dead in New Jersey tested positive for West Nile, including 43 in Mercer County, said officials from the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services. State officials routinely test birds to track the spread of the virus, even though it is not directly transmitted from birds to humans.
West Nile Virus causes some victims to become seriously ill with encephalitis or meningitis, according to Cuyahoga County health officials. But many people have been infected without knowing. "Many victims have no symptoms and experience no ill effects from West Nile Virus, " Picker said. "Upon exposure, the chances of contracting West Nile Virus are rare." He also said that pesticides are sprayed 20 feet from a truck in the street and never make it to back yards.
Laptop Computers Last year, there were no human deaths in New Jersey, and only 10 people were diagnosed with the virus, officials said. There were 12 cases in 2001 and six in 2000.
"If the weather in San Francisco gets warmer over the next few weeks, we anticipate increased mosquito breeding activity, " said Bhatia. A girl from Huntington Beach is the first juvenile from Orange County to contract the West Nile virus this year, health officials announced Tuesday. So far, 15 cases of West Nile virus have been reported in Orange County this year. California's number of West Nile cases topped 800 on Friday, with Sacramento County still leading all counties in the state 170 cases.
Laptop Computer Nickerson said the new trend of different birds contracting the disease was first noticed in the late summer months.
Brault said this makes it easier for the West Nile virus to adapt to rapidly changing environments. The study found that the death rate among crows exposed to the more virulent strain of the virus was 94 percent, compared to 31 percent among crows exposed to a less virulent version, AFP reported. In 2006, 4, 200 people in the United States were infected with the West Nile virus and 177 died. So far this year, only about a dozen deaths have been reported, but the number of infections has increased fourfold compared to the same time last year.
Desktop Computer "There had been a big influx of hawks and owls," she said. "It was curious how they had been getting sick. When they were first coming in we attributed the ailment to head trauma or poison."
Notebooks Initially stumped by the birds' condition, it took a while before a connection with the disease was made.
Lenovo "I don't know how many hawks and owls we had seen before testing for it," Nickerson said. "We didn't know to test for it until we had 20 at once in need of tube feeding and medication. We had to have one room full just to treat the ones that had West Nile virus."
Hard Drive Once verified, the birds' symptoms were consistent with the disease.
Travelstar In most cases, the birds were rendered helpless and simply stood in place, no longer able to fly, move or act normally, said Nickerson.
Gateway "Owls will develop head tremors in the advanced stage and are very docile," she said. "A hawk sitting on the ground has a problem. They'll begin to lose body weight after being down for a few days."
Laptop Parts She noted that the first bird she tested positive for West Nile virus was a red-tailed hawk found in Bedminster, Pa., in January of last year. "It was severely dehydrated," Nickerson said. "Its crop (where it would digest its food) was torn, and its central nervous system didn't improve, so we put it to sleep."
Software Though the death toll has been severe, the center has been successful at nursing some of the birds back to health.
Hard Drives For birds able to make a recovery from the effects of the virus, "Their bodies will develop an antibody" and be immune from ever catching it again, said Nickerson.
Electronics Five great horned owls sit atop their cage, impatiently awaiting their release into the wild, but a not-so-fortunate sixth one stares blankly into space, no longer able to fly, move or fend for itself.
Canon "Its prognosis is not good," she said. "We'll end up keeping it as long as we keep the others, but we may end up having to euthanize it."
Desktop Pc Of the healthy ones, the earliest any of them would be released into the wild is February or March, said Nickerson.
Desktop Computers But before she will even think about that possibility, they must prove to her they can fend for themselves.
Think Pad "I don't know if they can catch food yet," she said. "The next thing will be to test them on live prey. If they can catch one or two mice, they will be eventually released."
Repair Despite the fact that the owls' breeding season has begun, Nickerson believes it is too risky to release them right now.
Data Recovery "(These) horned owls start the mating season by the end of December through the middle of February," she said. "Once they find a mate and have young, they'll start hunting to feed their mate and young.
Cisco "But since they haven't been in the wild for at least six months, I don't want to put them in the breeding pool and compromise their survival and their nest of young."
Keyboard Nickerson said she has to be cautious because a lot of the birds still exhibit signs of central nervous system dysfunction.
Monitor One of the two remaining hawks is not likely to be released, said Nickerson.
Desktop It is having trouble landing on its perch and if released into the wild, it would be extremely vulnerable.
Infosys The other one likely will be released as soon as the weather clears, said Nickerson.
Refurbished Laptops "It has killed things," she said. "I'm waiting for a break in the weather. I don't want to send it out to have to dig out from under the snow."
Wipro Nickerson recommends that if people encounter birds or animals that appear to be sick or in need of assistance, they call the center and ask questions before taking matters into their own hands.
Lap Top The center can tell over the phone whether an animal is in need of assistance and can direct callers how to proceed.
Refurbished The center, located off Route 29, rescues about 2,000 animals a year. It is operated by Nickerson, two part-time staff members, 75 volunteers and an inmate from the neighboring Mercer County Correction Center.
Memory By Roger Alvarado
Trenton times - 1/14/2003
Topic: Pesticides
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