September 26, 2001

SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Illinois Department of Public Health today reported 24 more dead birds collected this month in the Chicago area have preliminarily tested positive for the West Nile virus, bringing to 82 the number of birds either confirmed or preliminarily positive since the virus was first detected in the state three weeks ago. No human cases of West Nile disease have been reported.

The two dozen 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 locations: Barrington, Cook County, one blue jay; Bensenville, DuPage County, one crow; Bloomingdale, DuPage County, one crow; Chicago, Cook County, eight crows and one blue jay; Des Plaines, Cook County, three crows; Glen Ellyn, DuPage County, one crow; Glenview, Cook County, one blue jay; Hanover Park, Cook County, one crow; Harvey, Cook County, two crows; Orland Park, Cook County, one crow; Schaumburg, Cook County, two crows; and Wood Dale, DuPage County, one crow.

In addition to dead birds, nine pools of mosquitoes collected in suburban Cook County between Aug. 24 and Sept. 18 have been reported to be preliminarily positive for West Nile virus, bringing to 12 the number of mosquito pools either confirmed or preliminarily positive for the virus. Confirmatory tests by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are pending on nine pools of mosquitoes.

(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.")