By DAVID HULSE

MONTICELLO - Sullivan County officials are expected today to decide on a strategy in response to last week's news that a West Nile virus infected bird had been found in the Town of Highland.

State and county health officials announced on August 10 that a blue jay found dead in the Yulan area on July 26 has tested positive for the virus. County Family Services Commissioner Judith Maier said the bird was a "fledgling," believed to be too young to have traveled any great distance in contracting the virus, so the disease bearing mosquitoes are likely to be in the county.

While they say the discovery is not a cause for alarm on the part of residents or visitors, the first positive testing for the virus has triggered an upgrading of the state and county preventative and surveillance actions regarding the virus to tier three on the state's four tier scale.

Contracted in humans, a West Nile infection usually causes flu-like symptoms, which like influenza can be more serious among the very old or the very young.

A State Department of Health (DOH) spokesman Mark Knudsen said epidemiologists are calling for the close monitoring of the virus, not so much because of its immediate threat to the general population, but because it is a new pathogen to the Western Hemisphere and there is no history here to predict its long-term course. Right now the disease seems to be having its greatest impact on the crow population, he added.

Maier suggested common sense actions by residents remain the best response including: the wearing of long-sleeve shirts, use of mosquito repellents and the removal of areas of standing water around the home where mosquitoes might breed.

The Sullivan County Legislature is examining responses to the infection, which may include the introduction of larvacides into some of the storm drains in the immediate area where the infected bird was found. All told, a recent survey found Sullivan County has some 2,400 storm drains, Maier said.

The Legislature may also consider aerial spraying, but that remains unlikely since several certified "organic" farms would be in danger of losing valuable certifications if spraying is done nearby. Legislator Rodney Gaebel confirmed that he opposed to aerial spraying "at any and all costs."

State and county health officials are also investigating the feasibility of instituting larval mosquito surveillance. DOH Monticello sanitarian John Kokas was unable to say last Thursday if state resources for such surveillance would be available

County Legislative Chair Rusty Pomeroy (D-3) said he was concerned with avoiding the creation of panic in the announcement. "We've got to remember, we've got one reported case this year [in humans] and he's doing fine...Public safety is our priority, but I don't want to panic." Pomeroy instructed staff to recommend alternatives best applicable to a rural setting and report to the Legislature's executive committee on August 17 at 10:00 a.m.

To report dead birds or for more information about West Nile, contact Sullivan County Public Health Nursing at 845/292-0100, extension 1 or the State Health Department at 845/794-2045.

For information about environmentally-friendly mosquito control methods, contact the Cornell Cooperative Extension at 845/292-6180.