Local News in Brief : Pigeon With Encephalitis
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A pigeon infected with St. Louis encephalitis virus, a disease that can be passed to people through mosquitoes, was discovered in the Sepulveda Dam area of Encino, county health officials said Monday.
Most infections are usually mild, but the virus can cause inflammation of the brain and spinal cord in people, said Barbara Gondo, a county environmental health officer. Symptoms can range from a headache and fever to confusion, paralysis and coma, Gondo said.
There were no cases of the virus in humans in 1987 and none so far this year, but 22 cases were reported in the county between 1983 and 1986, including one death in 1984, she said.
The pigeon discovered with the virus was one of a number of pigeons and chickens kept in coops by county health officials to monitor the presence of disease-bearing mosquitoes, Gondo said.
A pigeon carrying the virus was last found in the county in May in Norwalk, Gondo said.
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