title: Comparative West Nile virus detection in organs of naturally infected American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos).
abstract: Widespread deaths of American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos)were associated with the 1999 outbreak of West Nile (WN) virus in the New York City region. We compared six organs from 20 crow carcasses as targets for WN virus detection. Half the carcasses had at least one positive test result for WN virus infection. The brain was the most sensitive test organ; it was the only positive organ for three of the positive crows. The sensitivity of crow organs as targets for WN virus detection makes crow death useful for WN virus surveillance.
authors.affiliation: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Fort Collins, CO 80522, USA. nap4@cdc.gov
authors.forename: N A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Panella
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Kerst
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Lanciotti
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bryant
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Komar
mesh_terms: D001715:Bird Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology*; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D009515:New Jersey / Q000453:epidemiology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D020308:Songbirds / Q000821:virology*; D014901:West Nile Fever / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D014902:West Nile virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D012367:RNA, Viral