Good information. I will do some searching on the Hippoboscids in
particular. The article you linked to mentions WNV being found in ticks in
Africa and Asia (with uncertainty of their role in transmission), but it
makes sense any blood-sucking insect could pick it up.
Thanks again.

karen

"paghat" wrote in message
news
In article , "NewsUser"
wrote:

"paghat" wrote in message
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Though there is no possibility of dead birds per se infecting anyone
with
WNV, parasites on the bird just might be able to transfer the disease.
It
is believed the disease reaching certain hawk populations because of a
tendency to scavenge dead birds & having infected bloodsucking
parasites
transfer to a new host. Humans get it from mosquitos & mosquitos can
transfer it from any number of mammals or birds to humans. So though I
don't think it has been studied, it's at least a credible hypothesis
that
contact with infected parasites could provide a mild threat to humans.
There are several other zoonotic diseases for which parasites are
intermediate carriers.


Please provide the source of the info about parasites (other than
mosquitos)
transmitting WNV in hawk populations.

At the moment while east coast crows & jays seem mainly to get it from
mosquitos, it is beginning to appear that raptors around the Great Lakes
get it from various species of hippoboscids or louseflies. Do a medline
search for West Nile & Hippoboscids & you will find a great deal already
published, but most of the studies on this began late 2002 after the great
raptor die-off around the Great Lakes states & Canada, & are only reported
in birdwatcher newsletters & by falconer clubs, the full studies
themselves still pending publication.

Research is being done by Kay McKeever in Ontario, Marianne Socha in Ohio,
& several others, but McKeever's research is the most widely reported.
You'll find a little about this he
http://www.calhawkingclub.org/chccom...nv_default.htm