Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange
Abstract
South Dakotans have been vigilant, sending dead blue jays, magpies, crows, hawks, owls, and eagles into the South Dakota Department of Health, seeking to know if the birds died fromWest Nile virus (WNV). We can stop looking. WNV is in South Dakota to stay. There is nothing further we can learn from testing birds forWNV. Therefore, if you find an individual dead blue jay, magpie, or crow, dispose of the bird, taking the safety precautions listed on the next page. But we cannot let down our guard. Birds are considered to be reservoirs for almost all influenza virsues, and occasionally a lethal new virus comes along. We must be on the lookout for a new avian influenza virus known as Asian High Path H5N1 in wild birds, particularly if we come across groups of dead ducks, geese, pheasants, chickens, or turkeys
