Community Corner
DEP: Township Horse PA's First Case of West Nile This Year
A Lower Saucon Township horse that was recently euthanized is Pennsylvania's first confirmed case of West Nile Virus in 2012, according to the state's Department of Environmental Protection.
Although the date and location of its death have not been made public, a Lower Saucon Township horse was infected with the West Nile Virus and recently had to be euthanized by a veteranarian, according to a story published by the Express-Times.
The horse is Pennsylvania's first confirmed case of the virus this year, and the earliest confirmed case in any year since the West Nile Virus was first documented in the state in the year 2000, the article indicates.
West Nile Virus is spread by , and an unusually mild winter and early spring probably played a role in its earlier-than-normal appearance, according to a state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) spokesman quoted in the story.
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The DEP does not normally begin full-time monitoring and testing of mosquitoes until April.
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