[BCNnet] Impact on Birds/West Nile Virus

[Antlitz@aol.com]

In a message dated 11/10/02 7:49:50 AM, homeyer@earthlink.net writes:

<<"Are you worried about what WNV will do to bird populations?  Don't be.  
Bird experts say that wildl birds already are rapidly developing immunity to 
the imported disease.


The World Bird Sanctuary in St. Louis treated and releaed several great 
horned owls that recovered from the diseae.  WNV will claim the lives of some 
birds, but the rest will adapt to the virus, just as they have adapted to 
other diseases.  There is no evidence to suggest that WNV will devastate 
North American bird populations."


Gee, what a happy ending to the WNV story. Just like that my worries went 
away! >>


I think that mostly this demonstrates that words can have power.  In essence, 
this article and the alarmist articles here in Illinois are stating 
essentially the same information:  that WNV will be contracted by birds and 
will kill birds, but that the populations as a whole are likely to weather it 
out and eventually recover.   The big difference (huge difference) is all in 
the emphasis.  In this article, the death of individual birds is treated like 
a footnote, while in the Illinois articles, the eventual recovery of 
populations as a whole is treated like a footnote.  

I agree, that good, solid statistics would be helpful.  There is something a 
bit weak in an article that declares "bird experts say" without even  
mentioning who the bird experts are, or providing at least a scrap of good 
evidence to back up the experts' statement. 

Debbie Antlitz