Scientists find West Nile virus in dead crows around St. Louis

ST. LOUIS -- Moving faster than expected, the West Nile virus has been found in five dead crows around St. Louis, U.S. Geological Survey scientists said Friday. No human cases of the mosquito-transmitted form of encephalitis have been reported regionally.

The survey's National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis., notified the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services the crows it tested carried the virus. The discovery came about a month after the virus surfaced in birds around Chicago as part of what scientists considered its westward migration.

The dead birds were found between Sept. 15 and Sept. 29. Four were found in suburbs, the fifth in St. Louis' Forest Park.

On Thursday, the survey's biologists said a dead blue jay found near El Dorado in south-central Arkansas also tested positive for the virus, marking the furthest west the virus has been identified in the United States.

"The fact that the virus has finally appeared in Missouri really comes as no surprise to us," said Howard Pue, public health veterinarian with the Missouri Department of Health. "We anticipated that it would show up either this fall or next spring, since it had been found in other bordering states."

Pue said the state will continue monitoring the matter and provide public guidance.

Regardless, Pue said, the weather now may be on Missouri's side, with the spread of the virus this year possibly slowed by an approaching early frost.

Mosquitoes can transmit the disease to humans from infected birds, although fewer than one in 500 mosquitoes is infected. While the virus is a concern, fewer than 1 percent of people bitten by an infected mosquito become severely ill with encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain.

There have been 100 cases of West Nile virus in humans since the disease was found in New York in 1999, according to federal statistics. Ten people have died.

"It's getting here faster than I thought it would," Pue said last month. "The main thing is not to panic."

The virus -- not found in this country until 1999 -- has been detected in 27 states, the District of Columbia and the Canadian province of Ontario, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Most people infected with West Nile show no symptoms; others can have fever, head and body aches, skin rash and swollen lymph nodes. The elderly or those with weakened immune systems can suffer muscle weakness, convulsions, coma or death.

There is no specific treatment for the disease and no vaccination.

As precautions, officials suggested that residents clean their rain gutters, replace or repair screens and eliminate standing water in pots, urns or tires, as well as change water in bird baths at least every three days.