Test results are in from the first year of a multi-state study on West Nile virus in ruffed grouse in Minnesota, Michigan and Wisconsin.
Minnesota is collaborating on this project with researchers in Wisconsin and Michigan.
Outdoor News Managing Editor Rob Drieslein looks into the death of two northeastern Minnesota loons from West Nile virus in this video blog.
Two of three dead loons found in northeastern Minnesota earlier this month said to have died from WNV, and wildlife staff are receiving a small but noticeable increase in calls from people finding dead loons in northeastern Minnesota this summer.
Positive birds were picked up in Ashland, Douglas counties.
Ruffed grouse (Bonasa umbellus) standing on his drumming logRuffed grouse hunters in northern Minnesota can voluntarily submit samples for a West Nile virus research project being conducted by the Minnesota DNR. Minnesota is collaborating on this project with researchers in Wisconsin and Michigan, and will be sharing protocols and results. West Nile virus is known to exist in the upper…
“By testing birds from key areas in the state we hope to learn the extent to which ruffed grouse are being exposed to West Nile virus, and how it may be affecting them.”
(Wisconsin Department of Health Services)STEVENS POINT, Wis. — Biologists say this is a particularly bad summer for mosquitoes in Wisconsin because many of the insects survived the mild winter. The mild temperatures along with significant snow cover helped the mosquitoes survive, according to Jamee Hubbard, an associate professor of biology at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. Hubbard told Wisconsin Public…
The three states are in the early stages of planning to test samples from grouse this fall, but at this point there is no evidence that the virus is having a population-level impact in the Great Lakes region.
WNV has been confirmed in a handful of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula ruffed grouse, but not yet in Wisconsin ruffies.
No evidence of human infection from eating properly cooked game.
(Wisconsin Department of Health Services)SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — Illinois public health experts say they’re seeing fewer human cases of the West Nile virus this summer but still asking residents to protect themselves against mosquito bites, which cause the infection. Fewer pools of mosquitoes and fewer dead birds across Illinois are testing positive for the virus this year compared to last year,…
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Health officials say mosquitoes trapped in an area of central Ohio have tested positive for the West Nile virus. Franklin County Public Health says the infected mosquito pool is in Norwich Township near the Columbus suburb of Hilliard. Health officials say the pool was identified in a surveillance of traps set up to monitor the mosquito population. (Ohio…
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