So on Monday night, I get home from karate class and see something sitting in my driveway. Since I’d just washed my car, I assumed it was a sponge or something I’d left sitting out. I reach down…
…and feel something fuzzy.
Ew ew ew! At least it wasn’t moving, but I went inside and quickly washed my hands. Then I turned on my spotlights…oh yeah, it was a big, dead crow, looking like it had just plopped out of one of our trees from some kind of crow heart-attack. Weird.
Mom tossed it in the trash the next day. Later, my brother commented, “Y’know, that crow probably died of West Nile Virus.” That’s a possibility: we’ve got a pool in the backyard, so mosquitos may like the area.
Still, I kinda dismissed it, since I really don’t know much about West Nile. Until I turned on the news tonight…“A dead crow was found near (Res’ neighborhood) today which has been confirmed to carry the West Nile virus…”
Crap. Should we have reported this to somebody before tossing it? Should I not have even touched the thing?
Oh, dear. Well, you washed, which is probably a good thing. My understanding is that people with already compromised immune systems are the ones at risk. But I’d still call someone - I dunno who, though. Wildlife control? The disease control center? Department of public health?
Oh hell, yeah. Report it. Call the cops if you’re not sure. West Nile has been described as an “emerging epidemic”. If it did turn out that the crow was infected, it would mean the disease had spread a little further north - we had one case in DC.
I don’t think you can get West Nile virus from touching an infected crow. It is spread by mosquitos that first bite infected birds, and then humans. Even if you did get it, it would probably be no worse than a bad case of the flu. Bummer, but not dangerous, unless you are already in bad health from something else.
Don’t bother with it. Animal control around here has already announced that they’re not doing anymore dead bird removals, as it’s taxing their resources. They said to just throw in with your garbage.
North Carolina says to report any dead crows, blue jays, and birds of prey which don’t have obvious causes of death to the health department. So different jurisdictions have different policies.
CDC is only collecting and testing jays, crows, and birds of prey, which have been dead no longer than 48 hours. If anymore dead crows are spotted don’t call animal control, call your Health Dept. Don’t put too much stock in the media WNV is the cutest of the arboviruses.
Most people( over 80%) don’t even know they’ve been infected with WNV and only less than 1% have serious symptons.
I just found a dead crow in my backyard the other day and called the county health department, since we’ve had outbreaks here in Maryland.
They directed me to an 800 number for West Nile Virus/dead bird reports, and someone came and picked it up the next morning. The guy had on long rubber gloves and a plastic face shield, like he was picking up biohazardous waste. He double-bagged it and then put it in a box and off he went.
Obviously it varies depending on where you live, but better safe than sorry. If you see another one, I’d call the county health department.
While healthwise, I think your fine, I believe according to Voodoo you have about 12 days to live…or was that 12 hours? No, I’m pretty sure its 12 days.
It would depend on your state. Does your state have confirmed evidence of West Nile? If so, they don’t need really need to know, our state has stopped testing dead birds since it’s here. If your state does not, then they would likely be interested.
