May 26, 2013
The Ohio Health Department recently asked most county health departments to stop collecting birds for West Nile virus testing.
Of the, more than 1,500 birds that have been tested for the disease since May, 766 have tested positive.
Out of Ohio’s 88 counties, 86 have had reports of an infected bird.
A health department spokesman says, “You cannot get the virus directly from birds.”
If you see a dead bird in nature, leave it, if it's in your yard take a plastic bag and throw it in the trash or bury it.
Sick birds can be reported online at the Department of Natural Resource's Web Site at www.odh.state.oh.us
