News - Local
West Nile Infects Sentinel Chicken in Lafayette
Posted: Sep 3, 2010 3:21 PM by Kate Mundy
Updated: Sep 3, 2010 3:46 PM
A sentinel chicken tests positive for West Nile virus in Lafayette Parish. The positive sentinel chicken was stationed in a rural area on Rue November in the northwest part of Lafayette Parish near the intersection of highway 93 and West Gloria Switch Road.
The sentinel chicken was put out in May. It's tested every week. The chicken tested positive for the West Nile virus in a sample taken on September first. Sentinel chickens can't die from it, because they're immune.
That means the area is now under what's called West Nile Protocol. Spraying starts at dusk and continues at dawn for the next 7 days.
It's the first positive test this year in Lafayette Parish according to Glenn Stokes of Mosquito Control Contractors Inc. His company has the mosquito spraying contract for Lafayette.
MCCI has14 sentinel chickens throughout Lafayette Parish, 12 in St. Mary and 10 in Acadia.
There has not been a human case of West Nile virus in Acadiana since 2007.
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