Crow, Hawk & Falcon Testing

• To date, 36 crows and 1 hawk have been tested by the Department of Health and Senior Services' Public Health and Environmental Laboratory. Five crows found in Bergen and Middlesex Counties have tested positive for the presence of the West Nile virus (WNV).

• Positive crows were found as follows: April 30, one crow in Upper Saddle River (Bergen); and May 3 and 4, two crows in Edison; May 8, one crow in Iselin; and May 10, one crow in Piscataway (Middlesex).

Additional Information & Advisories

• New Jersey residents can take personal precautions to minimize their WNV exposure risk. Such measures include spraying insect repellent on their clothing and exposed skin in accordance with labeling directions and wearing long sleeved shirts and pants when outdoors. Residents can also curb outdoor activities at dawn, dusk and during the evening. Residents should also eliminate standing water on their own property that can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Windows screens should also be used and kept in good repair.

• The West Nile virus, an arboviral disease, is transmitted through the bite of a mosquito that has picked up the virus by feeding on an infected bird. WNV is not directly transmitted from birds to humans or from person to person. WNV infection generally causes no symptoms or just mild, flu-like symptoms; however, the elderly are at higher risk of more severe disease.

• In 2000, a total of six New Jersey residents became ill and one died due to WNV infection. The virus was also detected in mosquitoes, horses, crows and other birds in 20 of the state's 21 counties. The virus was detected for the first time in the Western Hemisphere in September 1999, in birds found in New York City and Westchester County.

• New Jersey's WNV surveillance, control and prevention activities involve the coordinated efforts of a number of federal, state and local agencies. These include the New Jersey Departments of Health and Senior Services, Environmental Protection, and Agriculture, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the State Mosquito Control Commission, the Rutgers Mosquito Research and Control Unit, and local health and mosquito control agencies.

• For more information on WNV, visit the New Jersey State homepage at www.state.nj.us and click on West Nile Virus.