WASHINGTON U.S. government researchers said on Friday they found West Nile virus in a dead crow in North Carolina, the farthest south the virus, new to the western hemisphere, has been found.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the infected crow was found in Chatham County, near the town of Moncure, about 40 miles southwest of Raleigh.
"Am I surprised to see it spread into North Carolina? No," Dr.
Robert McLean, chief of the USGS Wildlife Health Center, said in a statement.
"And I wouldn't be surprised to see it spread farther south." West Nile virus first appeared in New York City last year, where it killed 7 people. This year it killed an elderly man in New Jersey and has made 16 people ill enough to report to doctors.
West Nile naturally infects birds and is spread by mosquitoes.
When they bite people, it can create a mild flu-like illness but in rare cases it can go on to cause encephalitis.
The encephalitis can kill the elderly or people with weak immune systems, and it can leave healthy elderly victims crippled or debilitated.
Experts have predicted that, now it is in the United States, West Nile will spread widely. There is no way to kill off all the mosquitoes that spread it, although health officials say local pesticide spraying when infected birds are found can greatly reduce the risk that people will become infected.
Infected birds had previously been found in Maryland and the District of Columbia. The virus stops spreading when temperatures fall below 55 degrees F and mosquitoes become dormant, but can spread again when the insects become active in spring and when birds carry it with them when they migrate.
(Reuter)