The Greene County Health Department is asking for the public’s help in collecting dead birds.
Health Department officials want to obtain the birds to submit to the Illinois Department of Public Health to test for the presence of the West Nile Virus.
Greene County Health Department staff will retrieve species of “perching birds” (Passeriformes) in addition to crows, blue jays, robins, cardinals, catbirds, mockingbirds, many species of sparrows, finches, flycatchers, swallows, warblers, wrens, and small or medium-sized hawks or owls.
The birds will be submitted to the Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, School of Veterinary Medicine, at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign for testing.
An internet link for the identification of the above birds is available by visiting the IDPH’s West Nile Virus web page: http://www.dph.illinois.gov/topics-services/diseases-and-conditions/west-nile-virus.
Greene County residents are asked to contact the health department to report birds that have been dead less than 48 hours, are not decomposed, or show an obvious cause of death, such as being killed by a motor vehicle or shot.
To report a bird for submission to the testing, contact the Greene County Health Department at 217-942-6961, extension 102.