Birds test positive for virus

More than a dozen birds in Costa Mesa and two in Newport Beach have tested positive for the West Nile Virus, county officials said Friday.

Orange County Vector Control District officials continued to emphasize preventive measures to Newport-Mesa residents and people countywide Friday as they battle a marked increase in positive tests for the potentially fatal disease in birds.

More than 500 birds this year have tested positive for the West Nile Virus, which is transferred by mosquitoes, said Michael Hearst, Vector Control spokesman. No one in Costa Mesa or Newport Beach has been diagnosed with the virus, which has killed two in the county so far this year.

More than 30 others in Orange County have been diagnosed with the virus, he said.

“A lot of people are really, really sick and have to learn to walk and talk again,” Hearst said. One problem doctors have combating the disease is its ambiguous, flu-like symptoms, Hearst said.

No one should feel safe if there have been few, if any, birds in their area found to carry the virus because it’s “a moving target,” he said.

Officials strongly urge people to avoid mosquito bites. Breeding grounds are an increasing problem, with foreclosed homes with abandoned pools providing ideal settings for mosquito eggs, Hearst said.

But it’s not necessarily an increase in the mosquito population that’s the source of the problem — it’s the fact that more mosquitoes are now carrying the disease, he said. Vector Control employees have seen a three-fold increase in the amount of mosquitoes carrying the virus than they did four years ago, when the West Nile Virus killed four.

With a lull in activity over the last three years, officials are concerned a lower immunity in birds has helped spread the disease. Contact with dead birds will not infect humans, but may indicate a local presence of the disease, Hearst said. One Newport Beach woman noticed several dead crows in her area and called Vector Control, and one of them tested positive for the disease, she said in an e-mail.

She did the right thing by calling Vector Control, officials said.

“That’s what it boils down to, that people believe they can make a difference,” Hearst said.

Officials did not comment on if and when they would spray for mosquitoes in Newport-Mesa. Residents are urged to avoid going outside while mosquitoes are most active, at dusk and dawn, and to secure all doors and make sure none of their screens have holes in them.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.