By KRISTA GROMALSKI

PIKE COUNTY - With the West Nile Virus detected in surrounding Orange and Sullivan Counties, Pike officials are taking no chances. "I think it's a matter of when [the virus will show up,]" said County Field Representative Karen Batalin. The number of trapping sites she monitors is "ever increasing."

The county, through a grant from the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), hired Charles Wehinger, a second field representative. When the virus showed up across the Delaware in the Minisink Boro of NJ, the pair, along with two officials from Harrisburg and Swiftwater, conducted a "blitz" in Pike "in order to get a large number of insects down to the lab," Batalin said. All results came back negative.

In addition to traps, sentinel chickens are used to monitor for the virus. "Some birds are very sensitive to the West Nile Virus and others will get the disease and show no symptoms," said Batalin. "Chickens don't get sick." The sentinel birds were initially disease free and were placed in sets of three, with two hens and a rooster. Testing is performed by the Department of Agriculture (DOA).

According to Dr. Phil Debok of the DOA in Harrisburg, roughly 80 sentinel sites have been set up in eastern and northern tier states in PA. Blood samples are taken weekly and tested for the virus to provide early warning, he said.

"Aedes Japonicus, the type of carrier insect found in Orange County, was imported from Japan in used tires several years ago," Batalin said. "These insects are day-flying mosquitoes and are more likely to bite birds rather than humans." The chickens help to attract that species and increase the chance of detecting the virus, according to Batalin.

For more information can be found at www.WestNile.state.pa.us or by calling 877/PA-HEALTH.