Dead Crows Fuel West Nile Concern

B O S T O N, July 28, 2000 -- A second dead crow infected with the WestNile virus triggered a round of emergency meetings in the Bostonarea today, where officials contemplated a spraying campaignto eradicate mosquitoes.

Health officials revealed late Thursday that a dead crowfound in the western suburb of Hopkinton was infected with the WestNile virus, which can cause potentially lethal brain diseasessuch as encephalitis.

It was the second time this week that a dead bird was foundto be carrying the virus in the Boston area. The infected crowdied in Hopkinton on July 21.

Tests Have Failed

Officials Wednesday said a dead crow in the neighborhood ofJamaica Plain also carried the virus.

A 12-year-old child from the Jamaica Plain neighborhood washospitalized with encephalitis and was tested for West Nile.

No results have been released from the child’s tests, and sofar no human cases of the illness have been found inMassachusetts.

Tests have so far failed to find the virus, which killedseven people in New York last year, in a small sampling ofmosquitoes. People get West Nile after being bitten by mosquitoesthat have preyed on crows carrying it.

Virus symptoms can include high fever, headache and bodyaches, muscle weakness, loss of consciousness or rash. Healthofficials say the elderly and young are more susceptible to thevirus.

Massachusetts is the northernmost point the virus has beenfound. So far this year, the virus has been discovered inmosquitoes or birds in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Emergency Meeting

Hopkinton town officials planned to meet this afternoon ina second emergency meeting to discuss what steps they could taketo counter the virus. The town also was contemplating a move tospray insecticide on mosquitoes, according to the HopkintonSelectmen’s office.

The city sprayed mosquitoes in three areas Thursday nightand this morning, including the area where the infected crowwas found, said Kristin O’Connor, a spokeswoman for the BostonPublic Health Commission.

There were no further plans for spraying in Boston tonight, O’Connor said.

The Boston Public Health Commission has fielded hundreds ofcalls from concerned citizens, O’Connor said. In Hopkinton, thetelephone line to the public health administrator’s officeremained busy throughout the morning.

Massachusetts Department of Public Health SpokeswomanRoseanne Pawelec said that no statewide campaign of pesticidespraying was yet agreed upon.

Further spraying measures were to be discussed today withstate and regional mosquito control officials, Pawelec said. Sheadded that the Health Department was in contact with localmunicipal officials on the issue.

“We are working with the local communities. The Centers forDisease Control recommends targeted ground spraying within atwo-mile radius of where evidence of the virus is found,” shesaid.

The discovery of the two birds some 30 to 40 miles apartmeans West Nile has more than likely widely penetrated thestate, Pawelec said.

Getting a Jump on Virus

“It means West Nile virus is definitely here,” Pawelec said.“After finding the crow in Jamaica Plain, we would have beenextremely surprised if we had not found evidence in other partsof the state.”

But she said the discovery of the infected crows, and thelack of confirmed human cases, could give health officials thechance to get a jump on the virus with mosquito control measuresand public health awareness efforts.

West Nile virus, named for the region in Uganda where itfirst appeared in 1937, had never been detected in the WesternHemisphere until it affected the New York region in 1999.