work, utilized the media and workshops to build awareness of the problem and encourage the 
     
     implementation of solutions. 
     
    

    
     As a professor of Biology at U.P.E.I., Daryl has taught and encouraged a generation of biologists 
     
     in the fields of wildlife biology, ornithology, mammalogy, and other subjects. Some of these individuals 
     
     now are in a position to contribute funds towards conservation and, in some instances, to develop and 
     
     write policy for program implementation or to teach the next generation. 
     
    

    
     In the spring of 1999, Daryl's many decades of efforts led to his nomination for and receipt of the 
     
     _ Island Nature Trust's 20th Anniversary Special Natural Areas Award. His efforts continue today. 
     
    
   
   
    
     WEST NILE VIRUS ADVISORY: by Dr. Pierre Daoust 
     
    
   
   
    
     Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre 
     
    
   
   
    
     Bird watchers, naturalists, outdoors people, wildlife biologists, wildlife rehabilitators and other 
     
     members of the public should be alert to unusual deaths of wild birds, particularly crows, during spring 
     
     and summer 2000. Such deaths may indicate that West Nile Virus, first recognized in North America in 
     
     1999, is active in Canada. On Prince Edward Island, dead birds should be submitted to the Atlantic 
     
     Veterinary College, UPEI, (see bottom of this notice), which is the local Canadian Cooperative Wildlife 
     
     Health Centre (CCWHC) regional office. Here the specimens can be examined for West Nile Virus 
     
    
   
   
    
     infection. This is an important part of the early-warning system in place to detect West Nile Virus activity 
     
     in Canada, in order to reduce the risk of human infection 
     
    
   
   
    
     What is West Nile Virus and why is it cause for concem?_ 
     
    
   
   
    
     0 West Nile Virus is an arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus), transmitted by the bites of 
     
     infected arthropods, mainly mosquitoes (at least 43 species worldwide) and, to a lesser 
     
     extent, ticks. Direct transmission from animal-to-animal, or animal-to-human, does not 
     
     occur naturally. 
     
    

    
     0 Prior to 1999, West Nile Virus was known only fiom Africa, Asia and Europe, and had 
     
     never been found in the Western Hemisphere. 
     
    
   
   
    
     0 Wild birds are the primary hosts, but the virus may also infect amphibians, domestic 
     
     poultry, domestic mammals, human beings, and non-human primates. 
     
     o The virus multiplies in the tissues of an infected bird, circulates in the blood, and may be 
     
    
   
   
    
     picked up by another mosquito taking a blood meal. Infected mosquitoes transmit the virus 
     
     when they feed on another bird. Most birds do not become ill when infected with this 
     
     virus, but about 20 species of birds are known to be susceptible to disease. 
     
    

    
     0 Individuals of certain species of mammals, especially 
     
     people and horses, also may develop encephalitis 
     
     (inflammation of the brain) due to West Nile Virus, 
     
     although most infected people and horses remain 
     
     asymptomatic. 
     
    

    
     o In humans, West Nile Virus may cause mild disease 
     
     with fever, frontal headache, muscle aches, swollen 
     
     lymph nodes and skin rash. Less commonly, it causes 
     
     severe disease that is marked by headache, fever, neck 
     
     stiffness, muscle weakness, stupor, disorientation, coma, 
     
     and death. Disease is usually more severe in the elderly. 
     
     The incubation period (interval between infection and 
     
     the onset of disease) in humans is usually 5 to 15 days.