9.10.2000 00:25
W. Nile virus found in Davisville
The discovery of a dead blue jay with the virus in the North Kingstown neighborhood leads to plans for spraying tomorrow night within a two-mile radius.

By JENNIFER LEVITZ
Journal Staff Writer

The West Nile virus has turned up for the first time in North Kingstown, with a blue jay collected from the Davisville section on Sept. 1 testing positive for the virus, the Department of Environmental Management reported last night.

The discovery prompted plans for ground spraying tomorrow night, weather permitting, in a two-mile radius of where the blue jay was found, on Pilgrim Drive. The spraying of the pesticide Sumithrin is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in parts of North Kingstown, East Greenwich, and the Potowomut section of Warwick, the DEM said.

Crews will not spray the pesticide near open water or field crops.

East Greenwich residents can get information about spraying in their town by calling 886-8665. Information numbers for North Kingstown and Warwick residents will be forthcoming, the DEM said.

Including the latest case, five dead birds have tested positive so far this summer for the West Nile virus, a mosquito-born illness that appears to have crossed into Rhode Island last month. Also, a horse in South Kingstown was put to death on Aug. 28 after it contracted the virus -- making it the first sign that mammal-biting mosquitoes in Rhode Island are carrying it.

Spraying in a two-mile radius after each finding, crews have so far covered sections of Cranston, Warwick, East Providence, Westerly, Middletown, Newport, South Kingstown, Narragansett, and Coventry.

So far, no humans have contracted the virus in Rhode Island. While most people who do get it experience flu-like effects and fully recover, the virus can lead to a brain inflammation called encephalitis. The virus is fatal to humans in 3 to 15 percent of cases, most involving the elderly and others with weaker immune symptoms.

The state has tested slightly more than 100 birds for the disease since May. All but five have tested negative, the DEM said.

Eastern Equine Encephalitis, a less common but more deadly virus, killed a bird in North Providence last month, and killed two emus in Rehoboth last week. The EEE virus is almost always found in mosquitoes that don't bite humans.

The number of infections in Rhode Island is expected to diminish with the cooler weather, which causes mosquito populations to dwindle.

The DEM continues to urge residents to take personal precautions against mosquito bites, and to prevent mosquito breeding grounds -- such as standing pools of water -- around their homes.

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