FRANCAIS

August 16, 2002

• Late this afternoon, Manitoba Agriculture and Food determined that five horses that died in southern Manitoba have tested positive for West Nile virus. These results are presumptive positives and will be confirmed by additional tests.
• The positive horses were found in the St. Alphonse, Morden, Birds Hill and St. Claude areas.
• Horse owners should watch for symptoms related to the central nervous system such as listlessness, muscle twitches, loss of appetite, lack of co-ordination and weakness. If these symptoms exist, a veterinarian should be consulted.
• Horse owners are encouraged to consider preventive steps to help protect their animals. These include stabling horses at night in a barn with mosquito netting in place, using insect sprays and repellents and burning smudges where permitted to reduce mosquito activity near horses. Reducing the amount of tall vegetation near corrals and barns and reducing standing water will also help. A conditional use vaccine is also accessible through veterinarians.
• Additional mosquito surveillance efforts are being put in place in rural Manitoba to support West Nile surveillance efforts.
• Sentinel chickens housed in cages in the north of Winnipeg have also tested positive for the West Nile virus, further confirming the presence of the virus in mosquitoes.
• The risk of people becoming ill with the virus remains low. There have been no cases of West Nile virus diagnosed among people in Manitoba. Manitobans are still encouraged to:
• minimize mosquito bites by fixing screens, wearing protective clothing, using mosquito repellent with DEET and reducing the amount of time spent outdoors during peak mosquito hours at dawn and dusk;
• reduce standing water around their property such as water that may collect in old tires, children’s toys, eavestroughs, wading pools or stagnant ponds, or under flower pots; and
• continue to report dead birds only from the crow family which includes blue jays, ravens, magpies, grey jays and crows.
• To date, a total of 29 birds from the corvid family (crows, blue and grey jays, ravens and magpies) in Manitoba have now tested positive for West Nile virus indicating the virus is present among mosquitoes in many parts of Winnipeg and southern Manitoba.
• Public information is available by calling Health Links at 788-8200 in Winnipeg or 1-888-315-9257 or checking the Manitoba Health Web site at: http://www.gov.mb.ca/health/wnv.

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