Dead crows, West Nile virus and Governor Groper.

[Cleita]

So West Nile virus for sure has reached Santa Barbara County. We live the next county up in San Luis Obispo County. Yesterday I found a dead crow on the side of the road so I called the county health department, who gave me another number, who gave me another number. After three numbers I found the right agency. Turns out they weren't thrilled to hear from me but said they would contact the right agency who if they were interested would pick up the crow for testing by 5 PM yesterday. The crow is still out in the road as I type this.

So tonight the LA news runs a story about people getting the run around about dead and dying crows because of the shortage of manpower because Governor SH--- cut twelve million dollars for mosquito abatement out of the California budget. They say that there is no need to test the crows because it's known that West Nile has arrived....down there. We don't know yet if it has arrived up here, and I guess some frail elderly person is going to have to die from West Nile virus before we find out because they can't test the crows due to lack of funding.

Yes, Governor Groper is solving the budget crisis better than Grey Davis, isn't he? Somebody has got to tell this muscle brain that being governor of the fifth largest economy in the world isn't just another acting job.

[proud patriot]

1. Thanks for the heads up

I'm up in the Bay Area , and live close to the delta
:scared:

[Flagius]

2. Maybe...

Maybe when he siezes all property owned by Jews things will get better? Oh wait, that was that OTHER Austrian carpetbagger...

[madrchsod]

3. how about getting some

of the money back from kenny boy and his crooks? but that`s what the voters wanted and that is what they got-dead crows

[mike_c]

4. I've seen predictions that WNV will make it north of Sacramento...

...before winter this year. Unfortunately, serious vector control is a real problem-- lots of mosquito species are capable of vectoring WNV into mammal populations and the environmental costs of total vector control will be high. Having a highly mobile reservoir like birds makes WNV especially difficult to deal with-- look at how fast it managed to cross the country.

[jean]

5. If the birds are dropping dead it must be affecting horses - are the

horse people making noise about the lack of funding yet?

There is a WNV equine vaccine - here's some info:

http://www.aphis.usda.gov/lpa/issues/wnv/wnv_vaccine.html

http://www.equinewestnile.com/index.htm

[Cleita]

8. I live in horse country and everyone I know that has a horse

has gotten the vaccine for the horses. Of course horse people (the ones who own the horses) tend to be affluent, Republican and not bothered. I called my DH's nurse to find out if I could get a vaccine for him. As a dialysis patient he is very susceptible to any virus that comes around, like it could kill him. Apparently there is no vaccine for people. Go figure.

[LWolf]

10. This horse person isn't any of those things.

But we've vaccinated. I didn't vaccinate the first year; it wasn't here yet, and the vaccine is new and "experimental." Experimental enough to cause some thalidomide-like horrors for horse breeders. This year we are vaccinated, and no one has been diagnosed in our area, as far as I know. I'm the one with the bites; I picked them up in an Oregon forest a couple of weeks ago.

[Cleita]

11. If it hasn't reached Oregon, it will quickly because birds are

spreading it. If you are being bitten by mosquitos, you might find "Off!" by "Skintastic" effective. I always used it when I was a campground host. It works very well if you use it regularly. I am using it again. Even though I have emptied my birdbaths and any other thing that can hold stagnant water, I can't count on my neighbors to do the same.

[LWolf]

12. I'm home in so cal now.

I was visiting my mom in OR, and had plenty of mosquito repellent with me; I forgot to apply it a few times, hence the bites. My area is arid desert; mosquitos aren't a problem. Just a few miles away in a little canyon where I keep my horses, there are springs and creeks and water troughs in plenty, but I never see mosquitos. Still, my horses are vaccinated.

:hi:

[mitchtv]

13. got it in the Salton Sea area

major stopover on the Pacific Flyway.

[Momof1]

6. Things are screwed up in each state about West nile

In Pennsylvania, if you find a bird, your suppose to call a number. Then they will give you an address for the drop off site. Then you take the bird to the drop off center.

Then each county will test only 20 birds for west nile.

So if a county got 300 dead birds in a week. They will only show that they tested positive for 20 birds.


The whole situation is disgusting, last summer I was talking to a friend in Alabama that said that they were finding 10-15 dead birds a day, they would call the phone number and they would be hung up on. They weren't even collecting birds to test, because there was to many of them.

My only advice is to get some repellant. And make sure that there is no standing water on your property.

[Cleita]

9. I have done that as a precaution.

eom

[Sugarbleus]

15. Me too.........(we meet again Cleita) :-)

Why aren't our other representatives moving on this? I mean they live here too. Is the problem a "lesser" problem in their eyes or do they hold stock in mosquito repellent??

[frylock]

7. i bagged up a dead crow yesterday..

I called Environmental Health, and they had a guy over a couple hours later to pick it up. I'm down in San Diego.

[Sugarbleus]

14. Well, that's just swell news isn't it...geeez.... :-(

:scared: