Office of the Regional Executive for Biology - Central Region
 |
| About USGS / Science Topics / Maps, Products & Publications / Partnerships / Education / Newsroom / Jobs |
8-15-02
Here is a press release from Colorado Department of Public Health confirming WNV has arrived in that state - 3 horses and dead crow (I've only copied part of the release because of its length). Seems like horses are becoming a better sentinel for the virus than birds in the more western regions. I have requested, but still have no data, on the efficacy of the WNV vaccine produced by Ft. Dodge.
Thomas J. Roffe, PhD, DVM
Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center
USGS-BRD
FWP Bldg, 1400 S. 19th Ave.
Bozeman, MT
T: 406-994-5789
F: 406-994-4090
Cell: 406-539-4955
Supporting Document:
Date: 15 Aug 2002
From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org>
Source: Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment [15 Aug 2002]
<http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/release/2002/081502.html>West Nile Virus Detected In Three Colorado Horses And In Dead Crow
DENVER - West Nile virus has been detected in the blood of 2 horses and a crow from Weld County and one horse from Pueblo County. John Pape, an epidemiologist who specializes in animal-related diseases for the department's Disease Control and Environmental Epidemiology Division, said this is the first detection of the virus in animals in Colorado. The virus has been moving across the United States from east to west since striking New York City in the summer of 1999.
However, Dr. Ned Calonge, the state's acting chief medical officer and state epidemiologist who is based at the Department of Public Health and Environment, emphasized that there have been no human cases in Colorado and there may not be human cases anytime in the near future. Humans, most of whom will not become ill, can be infected with West Nile virus when bitten by a mosquito that is carrying blood from an infected bird. Mosquitoes also infect horses.
The testing of specimens from the horses, which helped to confirm the arrival of the disease in Colorado, was completed at noon on Thursday and conducted jointly by the Department of Public Health and Environment's laboratory in Denver; the Colorado Department of Agriculture's laboratory in Lakewood; and the Weld County Health Department laboratory in Greeley.
The horses were tested for the disease after they became ill. One Weld County horse and the Pueblo County horse died. The second Weld County horse is recovering. The dead crow, which was found in a residential area within the Greeley city limits, was submitted by the Weld County Health Department to the State Department of Public Health and Environment Laboratory in Denver where it was tested.
U.S. Department of the Interior | U.S. Geological Survey
URL: http://biology.usgs.gov/cro/WNV8-15-02.htm
Page Contact Information:
tlwilliams@usgs.gov
Page Last Modified:
