Nevada’s first case of West Nile virus was confirmed when a dead crow found in southeast Carson City tested positive for the disease.
“We’re just asking people to let us know if they see a dead bird so that we can pick it up for testing,” Carson City health director Daren Winkelman said Monday.
An 80-year-old couple on Fieldcrest Drive found the crow Thursday and reported it to the city’s Department of Environmental Health, Winkelman said.
Washoe District Health Department staff installed 20 mosquito traps in the immediate vicinity of where the crow was found. Only one mosquito was collected in a 24-hour period, indicating very low vector prevalence. It tested negative for the disease.
Mosquito trapping and dead or sick bird surveillance will be increased significantly in the next few weeks, maybe in months, Winkelman said.
A test swab from the crow was sent to the Nevada Department of Agriculture in Reno for testing. The test is ineffective if the bird has been dead more than 24 hours, he said.
After the test came back positive Friday, officials notified other agencies. Field tests were started the next day, he said.
“Thursday morning I got up, I went outside with the dog about 5:20 and there was a crow up there on top of the pine tree just talking like mad and looking down at me,” Carolyn Noack said.
“About two hours later, he just falls out of the tree and tries to get up, but he just rolled over. He tried to stand up but his little feet just wouldn’t hold him, so I picked him up with a shovel and moved him out of the sun into the shade,” she said.
“Then he just died,” Noack said.
The couple put the crow into a paper bag and called the Carson City Health Department.
“I just felt so bad because I wanted to do something to help the bird. It seemed like he was telling me he was in pain,” she said.
Dr. David Thain, veterinarian for the Nevada Department of Agriculture, said the couple handled the situation perfectly.
“The dead crow was reported to Carson City health department by an alert citizen who knew we were looking for dead birds to test,” Thain said. “Dead and sick bird reporting is an important component to our surveillance efforts.”
He said horse owners in Nevada should vaccinate their horses against the virus as soon as possible. In California, there was one case of equine West Nile Virus reported last year. This year, there have been 26 cases reported and 11 of those horses have died, he said.
Now, only Oregon and Washington have no reported cases of the virus.
Two Nevadans tested positive for the disease last year after contracting it in other states, Winkelman said.