West Nile virus (WNV) has continued its advance across the United States, appearing for the first time in 2002 where it has visited in previous years, and making its debut in other states untouched by the virus before 2002. In all, 31 states and Washington, D.C., have been affected this year (by the end of 2001, 27 states had WNV). In the past week, avian WNV has been detected for the first time in 2002 in Minnesota and Delaware, and for the first time ever in West Virginia, Additionally, WNV has been detected in horses for the first time this year in Mississippi and Tennessee.  

West Nile virus is a neurologic disease that first appeared in the Western Hemisphere in the fall of 1999, causing illness and death in horses, birds, and humans. The virus is spread by the bite of an infected mosquito and is harbored by birds, which have assisted in the disease’s spread from its original epicenter in New York to other areas of the country over the past three years.

The Minnesota Health Department announced the detection of WNV in two dead crows on July 23. An official from the Delaware Department of Public Health said today that their epidemiologist received positive results on the state’s first avian WNV case in 2002, a crow.

West Virginia officials learned July 23 that WNV was detected for the first time in the state in a dead Eastern Blue Bird found in Jackson County July 12. Positive preliminary tests were completed at the Southeastern Cooperative Wildlife Disease Study at the University of Georgia School of Veterinary Medicine, and confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Fort Collins, Colo. All states bordering West Virginia have in previous years found WNV. West Virginia residents can learn more about the virus by visiting https://www.wvdhhr.org/bph/oehp/sdc/westnile.htm or by contacting their local health department or the Division of Surveillance and Disease Control at 304/558-5358