West Niles virus shows up in Ames

Story County has become the sixth county in Iowa to confirm the presence of West Nile virus. Ames city sanitarian Kevin Anderson says animal-control got a report last week of a sick crow and after it was picked up, the crow died. The bird was sent to the state hygienic lab in Iowa City and this morning Ames officials learned the crow tested positive for West Nile. Anderson says they were expecting the discovery sooner or later. He says crows and blue jays are the most susceptible to the disease, and Anderson says officials have been on the lookout for dead birds. Anderson says his public-health workers aren’t particularly alarmed that they picked up a bird dying of the disease, which can affect birds, horses…and people. He says they know they can’t catch it from a sick bird because it’s spread by mosquito bites, and there’s a fairly low risk. Anderson says since West Nile has been confirmed in Story County, the state testing lab will not accept any more specimens from there, but only from counties where the disease hasn’t yet been found.