On October 19, New York State Agriculture Commissioner Nathan L. Rudgers announced that a number of horse deaths and illnesses in Suffolk County, NY, are likely the result of West Nile-like virus.
Additional testing is in progress.
We've included the following preliminary information. WNV is a flavivirus with widespread distribution throughout Africa, the Mediterranean, and Eurasia. Recent outbreaks have included a large one in Romania during 1996-1997, and one in Italy in 1998 prior to which there had never been any clinically or serologically confirmed cases in the country. Perhaps the limits of whether or not the virus has been isolated from a particular bird species is dependent on whether that species has been tested. Chickens have been used as sentinels during surveillance efforts in countries with endemic infection.