# West Nile &Only Crows? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 31, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211 "2001-08-31T22:23:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/1 "2001-08-31T22:23:32Z")
What is it with West Nile Virus and crows? Don’t mosquitoes bit any other birds, like pigeons? ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/2 "2001-08-31T22:29:44Z")
[West Nile Virus: It’s not just for crows anymore.](http://www.usgs.gov/public/press/public_affairs/press_releases/pr1109m.html) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/3 "2001-08-31T22:32:38Z")
I didn’t even know what it is until I looked it up; > **[PA's West Nile Virus Control Program](https://gis.dep.pa.gov/WNV/index.html)** > > Pennsylvania's West Nile Control Program helps protect Pennsylvanians from West Nile and other mosquito-borne diseases. Where does it say that the vector is limited to crows? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![serack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/da6949/32.png) [@serack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/serack)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/4 "2001-09-01T02:37:58Z")
Crows are more susecptible to it because they eat dead flesh which harbors infected mosquito larva. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/5 "2001-09-01T02:42:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by serack \* > \*\*Crows are more susecptible to it because they eat dead flesh which harbors infected mosquito larva. \*\* Uhhh, I’d like to see a cite for that, considering the fact that mosquito larvae mature in pools of stagnant water… ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/6 "2001-09-01T02:57:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by serack \* > \*\*Crows are more susecptible to it because they eat dead flesh which harbors infected mosquito larva. \*\* That’s totally false. The virus is passed by the bite of the adult mosquito. As **Smeghead** says, mosquito larvae have nothing to do with dead flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/7 "2001-09-01T03:54:28Z")
[West Nile Virus](http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/westnil2.html) seems to show up in crows most frequently because they are unusually susceptible to it, not necessarily because they are exposed to it more. The link mentions that, although the disease is usually transmitted through the bite of a mosquito, direct crow-to-crow transmission has recently been demonstrated. No doubt **brachyrhynchos** will be along soon to elaborate. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2001, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/8 "2001-09-01T03:58:45Z")
[Here](http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/westnile/2001spotlight.htm) is more information about West Nile Virus. A man in Atlanta recently died from it. People also contract it from infected mosquitos (not from birds, horses, cats, bats, chipmunks, skunks, squirrels, and rabbits that are also affected by it). It’s still a very rare disease in the US (just apparently having arrived in 1999). It’s a _flavivirus_ like Japanese encephalitis, so I’m hoping there will be a vaccine against it in the not-too-distant future. [Edited by JillGat on 08-31-2001 at 11:07 PM] ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2001, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/west-nile-only-crows/79211/9 "2001-09-03T01:00:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mangeorge \* > \*\*I didn’t even know what it is until I looked it up; > [http://www.westnile.state.pa.us/](http://www.westnile.state.pa.us/) > Where does it say that the vector is limited to crows? > Peace, > mangeorge \*\* Mangeorge, the news is always quoting stats on dead crows found with West Nile Virus…hence, the origin of my question. Thanks for the website tip… - Jinx