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Surveys show West Nile virus devastated birds in American suburbs
By Seth Borenstein
Associated Press ? May 16, 2007
WASHINGTON ? Birds that once flourished in suburban skies, including robins, bluebirds and crows, have been devastated by West Nile virus, a study found.
Populations of seven species have had dramatic declines across the continent since West Nile emerged in the United States in 1999, according to a first-of-its-kind study.
The research, to be published Thursday by the journal Nature, compared 26 years of bird breeding surveys to quantify what had been known anecdotally.
"We're seeing a serious impact,'' said study co-author Marm Kilpatrick, a senior research scientist at the Consortium of Conservation Medicine in New York.
West Nile virus, which is spread by mosquito bites, has infected 23,974 people in confirmed cases since 1999, killing 962, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the disease, primarily an avian virus, has been far deadlier for birds.
The death toll for crows and jays is easily in the hundreds of thousands, based on the number of dead bodies found and extrapolated for what wasn't reported, Kilpatrick said.
It hit the seven species ? American crow, blue jay, tufted titmouse, American robin, house wren, chickadee and Eastern bluebird ? hard enough to be scientifically significant.
Only the blue jay and house wren bounced back, in 2005.
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By Seth Borenstein
Associated Press ? May 16, 2007
WASHINGTON ? Birds that once flourished in suburban skies, including robins, bluebirds and crows, have been devastated by West Nile virus, a study found.
Populations of seven species have had dramatic declines across the continent since West Nile emerged in the United States in 1999, according to a first-of-its-kind study.
The research, to be published Thursday by the journal Nature, compared 26 years of bird breeding surveys to quantify what had been known anecdotally.
"We're seeing a serious impact,'' said study co-author Marm Kilpatrick, a senior research scientist at the Consortium of Conservation Medicine in New York.
West Nile virus, which is spread by mosquito bites, has infected 23,974 people in confirmed cases since 1999, killing 962, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But the disease, primarily an avian virus, has been far deadlier for birds.
The death toll for crows and jays is easily in the hundreds of thousands, based on the number of dead bodies found and extrapolated for what wasn't reported, Kilpatrick said.
It hit the seven species ? American crow, blue jay, tufted titmouse, American robin, house wren, chickadee and Eastern bluebird ? hard enough to be scientifically significant.
Only the blue jay and house wren bounced back, in 2005.
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