Anyone who believes they may have been exposed to the West Nile Virus is encouraged to consult with a physician. The Delaware Department of Agriculture will continue to work with horse owners and veterinarians in the state to identify horses that may be infected with the West Nile Virus. The Department's Poultry and Animal Health personnel will assist in the collection of blood samples for further analysis. Suspect horses will exhibit symptoms, which include listlessness, muscle spasms in the head and neck, and weakness in hind limbs. There is no vaccine against West Nile Virus.
Early detection is the only way to help prevent a serious and possibly fatal infection.
Sick or dead birds can be covered or protected until state officials arrive. For health-related reasons, people should avoid direct contact with sick or dead birds, and not handle specimens without gloves. The public is asked to limit their reporting to specimens that are alive and sick, or that appear to have been dead for less than 24 hours. While the occurrence is not cause for alarm, the public is advised to reduce mosquito bites to the extent practicable, and to assist the state's efforts to detect and track the virus by reporting sick or dead birds to the Mosquito Control Section. Symptoms of the West Nile Virus, which is typically transferred from birds to humans via mosquito bites, include fever and headache and, in rare cases, neurological disorder.