(August 19, 2008) -- Early Tuesday afternoon (August 19th), a dead crow was found in the 6100 block of Atherton St., directly across the street from the CSULB Walter Pyramid.

Photo by Daryl Supernaw

It was lying in the greenbelt less than 200 feet from McNab Avenue and the west end of the Atherton Ditch. A small amount of water was visible in the ditch.

Photo by Daryl Supernaw

The latest finding comes amid LBReport.com's report earlier today (Aug. 19) that the Greater L.A. County Vector Country District (GLACVCD) that the number of dead crows has increased significantly over the past week in its jurisdictional area (north of PCH, east of Lakewood Blvd.) and a reader-reported dead crow in the Keynote/Monogram area (north of Wardlow, east of Los Coyotes). (Coverage, click here).

The dead crows are a disquieting but not unexpected development indicating that West Nile Virus may be increasingly prevalent among mosquitoes in the ELB area. The mosquito-borne virus spreads when infected mosquitos bite crows, which fly considerable distances, where they're bitten by new mosquitos who then acquire the virus and spread it further.

Unlike humans (most of whom don't show symptoms if bitten by a West Nile infected mosquito), virtually all crows bitten by infected mosquitos die, thus providing a visible barometer of West Nile activity in a particular area. No human cases of West Nile Virus have been reported in LB this year.

Per instructions from the West Nile Virus hotline (1-877-WNV-BIRD), the Atherton St. dead crow was placed in a plastic bag and hung in plain view from a nearby tree.

Photo by Daryl Supernaw

The state staffer also indicated that if L. A. County Vector Control did not pick up the bird by 5:00 p.m., to go ahead and discard it. West Nile testing is not conducted on birds that have been dead for too long.

Further to follow on LBReport.com.