Dead birds near Sacramento test positive for West Nile as disease activity grows
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- Three dead birds in Sacramento County tested positive for West Nile virus.
- Placer County leads the region with 18 mosquito cases, tied for second statewide.
- Officials urge use of repellent and reporting of dead birds to control virus spread.
As West Nile virus activity picks up around the capital region, three dead birds were found to have contracted the disease in two parts of Sacramento County.
Two northern mockingbirds near Antelope and a white-tailed kite in Elk Grove tested positive for the virus, the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District announced Monday. The three birds are the first to have been identified with West Nile in Sacramento County this year.
“Finding the first positive birds is always significant because it serves as an early warning sign for West Nile virus activity,” Gary Goodman, the district manager, said in a statement included in the district’s news release. “It confirms the virus is present in our region, helps us identify areas where infected mosquitoes may be found, and provides insight into where human cases could emerge later in the season.”
The announcement came three and a half weeks after the year’s first mosquito sample collected in Sacramento County tested positive for the virus, which is transmitted by mosquito bites and cannot be treated with any proven cure. Officials recommend that residents use insect repellent to avoid contracting West Nile.
While Sacramento County has not seen more reported mosquito cases since its first, neighboring Placer County has emerged as one of the state’s hot spots for detected mosquito infections.
In the latest update released Thursday by the state Department of Public Health, Placer reported the second-most cases of mosquito samples carrying the disease.
Placer and Kern counties each had 18 mosquito cases by last week after Placer added 16 new cases in the Thursday update, less than three weeks after its first mosquito sample tested positive. Tulare County had 294 positive tests, nearly three-quarters of the statewide total.
The southern San Joaquin Valley county was also the location of the state’s first human fatality of West Nile this year. A man in the county died partly due to West Nile, Tulare County Public Health confirmed on June 23. Stanislaus County officials said a resident there tested positive for the virus last week as well.
Vector control officials in the Sacramento region are spraying insecticide to limit the spread of West Nile. The Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District said in its Monday news release that it would be escalating its efforts to monitor and trap mosquitoes. Placer County officials have carried out at least three aerial sprays since July 2.
Officials said residents should report dead birds — including crows, jays and magpies, which have a particularly high risk of infection — by calling the state Department of Public Health hotline at 877-968-2473.
For mosquito issues in Sacramento and Yolo counties, the district directed residents to its hotline at 800-429-1022 or its website, fightthebite.net. Placer County urged its residents to contact vector district officials at 916-380-5444 or placermosquito.org.
