Indefinite Suspension of Dead Bird Surveillance for WNV and Deactivation of the Dead Bird Reporting Hotline
This message is being sent to local health officers, tribal health directors, local health department staff and key DPH staff.
Starting in 2020, DPH will no longer be collecting dead birds for West Nile virus (WNV) testing and has deactivated the Dead Bird Reporting Hotline (1-800-433-1610) indefinitely. Since the program first began in 2001, dead bird surveillance for WNV has been an important tool for early seasonal detection of WNV activity, for raising awareness of WNV and mosquito-borne disease risk in Wisconsin, and for disseminating disease prevention recommendations to the public. Due to funding limitations, the Dead Bird Reporting Hotline is no longer being staffed or monitored.
What does this mean for local health departments?
Local health departments (LHD) will no longer need to coordinate the collection and submission of dead corvids for WNV testing at the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Lab. Since dead bird testing for WNV will not be performed going forward, county-level WNV activity in dead birds will no longer be available.
Since many local jurisdictions used a WNV positive dead bird as an opportunity to send out a press release notifying the public of the first detection of WNV activity for the year, health officers may now want to consider sending out a press release in May or June, at the beginning of the mosquito season, reminding residents that the risk of WNV and other illnesses spread by mosquitoes is present. Alternatively, health officers may want to consider sending out a press release reminding residents of the risk of illnesses spread by both mosquitoes and ticks, since mosquito and tick seasons overlap and many prevention strategies can be effective against both mosquito and tick bites. Press release templates focusing on mosquitoes only, ticks only, and one on both ticks and mosquitoes are available on the Vectorborne SharePoint site on the PCA Portal, under Vectorborne Diseases Communications Toolkit. Any LHD may use or adapt these templates as they deem appropriate.
Will other non-human WNV surveillance continue in 2020?
Yes, other non-human surveillance for WNV will continue in 2020, including passive surveillance of equines and other veterinary cases, and active mosquito surveillance in limited locations. DPH will continue to notify LHDs via email or phone call about positive WNV (or EEEV) equine cases, positive WNV mosquito pools, or any other laboratory evidence of arboviral activity in your jurisdiction.
What should LHDs do if members of the public contact you to report dead birds or request WNV testing?
LHDs who receive calls from the public regarding dead bird reporting and testing should indicate that the Dead Birth Reporting Hotline is no longer operational, and should refer callers to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Wildlife Health Program website for information about which species of birds should be reported to the DNR for wildlife health-related investigations. Most individual dead birds do not need to be reported or collected, and can be discarded. To safely dispose of a dead bird, use gloves or an inverted plastic bag to place the carcass in a garbage bag, which can then be placed in the regular trash. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. Dead birds should not be handled with bare hands.
DPH has updated our WNV webpages to reflect these changes.
The updated information and guidance regarding the Dead Bird Reporting Hotline can be found on the DPH WNV: About page and the WNV: Surveillance and Reporting page.
Will an Arbovirus Management Protocol be available for 2020?
Yes, the updated Arbovirus Management Protocol for 2020 should be available on our website and distributed to local health officers and tribal health directors by the end of April.
Thanks for 19 years of partnership!
On behalf of everyone in the Vectorborne Disease Program at DPH, we would like to say thank you for participating in this program for 19 years! We have greatly enjoyed and appreciated the partnerships that made this surveillance program such a success.
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