West Nile virus is beginning to peek out from the mysterious hiding places where it overwintered since an outbreak in late 1999. Three birds have been found dead with the virus—two in New York, and one in New Jersey.

Two crows in New York were an adult male and female found on May 22 , and were submitted from the same area in Rockland County. The New York State Health Department confirmed the presence of the virus on June 9. The New Jersey report involves a dead crow which was found May 30, and WNV was confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) on June 8.

The virus had also been detected in a dead red-tailed hawk in Bronxville, N.Y. in February, and in adult mosquitoes in Queens, N.Y., during January and February.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a type of encephalitis spread by the bite of an infected mosquito. The virus was found first in birds last fall, and had never been experienced before in the Western Hemisphere. The disease caused illness and death in both horses and humans