September 20, 2001

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health today reported four dead birds collected in Cook County have preliminarily tested positive for the West Nile virus, bringing to 58 the number of birds either confirmed or preliminarily positive since the virus was first detected in the state Sept. 5. No human cases of West Nile disease have been reported.

The four dead birds were identified as preliminarily positive by the Illinois Department of Agriculture lab in Galesburg. Samples from the birds have been shipped to the U.S. Geological Survey lab in Madison, Wis., for confirmatory testing.

The dead birds were found in the following Cook County locations (collection dates are in parentheses): Chicago, crow (Sept. 13); Chicago, hawk (Sept. 13); LaGrange Park, crow (Sept. 12); and Niles, blue jay (Sept. 17).

In addition to dead birds, three pools of mosquitoes collected in Cook County earlier this month have been previously reported to be preliminarily positive for West Nile virus. Confirmatory tests by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are pending.

(Editor's note: A complete recap of the positive birds and mosquitoes identified so far in Illinois is on the Department's Web site at www.idph.state.il.us. Go to the West Nile virus page and select "surveillance.").