GILROY
– A bird infected with West Nile virus was confirmed in Gilroy
Friday, bringing the total number of infected birds in Santa Clara
County to eight.
By Lori Stuenkel
GILROY – A bird infected with West Nile virus was confirmed in Gilroy Friday, bringing the total number of infected birds in Santa Clara County to eight.
The bird was found in a resident’s yard near Princevalle and Eighth streets on July 27 and is the first time West Nile virus has been found in Gilroy. Five other bird cases were confirmed in Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Campbell and San Jose Friday, including four hawks and a house finch.
Dana Schoeneman, 15, said she saw the bird acting lethargic in the front yard of her home near Gilroy High School.
“I found it in our grass and it was just sitting there,” she said. “The cat was watching it, but it was just sitting there and when I picked it up, it just fell over. It didn’t do anything.”
Schoeneman said she thought the bird was just stunned and would recover shortly. When it didn’t, she left it in a box for her older sister Amber to take to the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center in Morgan Hill, which cares for orphaned, sick or injured wildlife.
“We have been prepared for the onset of West Nile for over a year now,” said Sue Howell, the center’s director. “And with all of our protocols, we have the symptoms to look for.”
Birds infected with West Nile virus go through three stages, Howell said, from being lethargic in phase one to exhibiting flu-like symptoms in phase two and nearing death in phase three. The time needed for West Nile disease to advance varies from animal to animal, she said, although a bird found during phase one often may be treated.
“This bird was between (phases) two and three,” she said. “It wasn’t convulsing, but it was showing some of the advanced symptoms, and that’s why it was a big red flag for us.”
Howell said the bird was a house sparrow, which is similar to a house finch.
She said the bird needed to be euthanized and was delivered to the county’s Vector Control District, responsible for preventing and tracking West Nile virus, within 90 minutes of its death.
The Center for Vector-borne Diseases at U.C. Davis confirmed the bird was infected.
Other cases confirmed Friday were four hawks – one in Sunnyvale, one in Santa Clara and two in San Jose – and a house finch in Campbell. The hawks were delivered by residents to the Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley.
Any Gilroy resident who finds a sick bird, or a bird that has been dead less than 48 hours that does not appear to have suffered an injury, should contact Vector Control, officials said.
“If they do find an animal, as always, we’ll continue to take in the orphaned, sick and injured native species, as we’ve been doing,” Howell said.
The educational birds at the Wildlife Education and Rehabilitation Center have all been vaccinated and Howell said watching out for West Nile is now part of volunteers’ routine when caring for the center’s animals.
“We’re working on supportive care,” Howell said. “There’s some new medication out, we’re going to be trying to see if it might help reduce the mortality of it.”
The first confirmed case of West Nile virus in Santa Clara County came late last month, when a crow found in East San Jose tested positive.
West Nile virus, first found in the United States in 1999, is spread by mosquitos. It is transmitted to humans and animals through the bite of an affected mosquito and cannot be spread from person to person.
No infected mosquitos have been found in Santa Clara County.
“Residents can help us fight the battle against West Nile virus,” said Kriss Costa, Vector Control’s community resource specialist. “By checking their own backyards for any standing water and then dumping or draining it will help reduce the transmitter of (West Nile virus), the mosquito.”
Residents may report any standing water hazards to Vector Control, or even contact the agency to get mosquito-eating fish for a pond or other backyard body of water.
There also is no evidence that West Nile can spread to humans from an infected bird, although Vector Control officials recommend that if residents pick up a dead bird, they wear rubber gloves or a plastic bag instead of their bare hands.
Schoeneman said she wasn’t aware of West Nile virus when she picked up the bird in her front yard a couple weeks ago.
No human or horse cases of West Nile have been reported in Santa Clara County, although to date, 103 human cases have been reported in California, with two fatalities.
To report dead birds, call 877-968-2473. To contact Vector Control, call
792-5010.
