Dead and dying crows discovered by North Hills woman test positive for West Nile virus
Mary Bates' instincts were spot on during her daily walk a couple of weeks ago when she saw something strange.
"I saw three dead crows here and then when I came home, there was a crow in our backyard and it was dying," she said
Within an hour, the crow died prompting Bates to alert the Los Angeles County Vector District for help. The next day, officials picked up the birds and sent them to UC Davis for testing. On Tuesday, Vector Control told Bates the crows tested positive for West Nile virus.
"I was pretty scared. I alerted everyone in the neighborhood and just told them to wear like the long shirts and to wear mosquito spray," she said. "That is kind of our only recourse that we have there's nothing we can do."
L.A. County Vector District spokesperson Mary Joy Coburn said that mosquitos samples in the county are coming back negative for the virus but added that the crows testing positive for the virus is a sign of what's to come.
"We can't pinpoint where they were bitten by a mosquito or where they have interacted with mosquitos but because we did find them in the area it is safe to say there is West Nile transmission occurring in the area," she said.
Coburn said the ongoing drought could increase the transmission of West Nile.
"Because of the drought, not a lot of access to water there are higher opportunities for these birds and mosquitoes to interact," she said.
In the meantime, Bates said she's doing everything to keep the mosquitos away.
"I don't want to get sick," Bates said. "I'm already dealing with COVID. We have so many other things going on in the world, the last thing I want to do is get sick from a mosquito... We have a lot of mosquitos here."
There is no human vaccine for the West Nile virus. The symptoms range from fever and body aches to a skin rash that can last several days to months.
