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Sentinel Chicken Program
The Miami-Dade Health Department uses chickens for the
purpose of arbo-virus surveillance. Small flocks of chickens (usually
6) are positioned throughout the county in areas with mosquito activity
or where the chances of the chickens being bitten by mosquitoes
that carry West Nile or other virus are possible.
Chickens are used because they are easily infected with a relatively
small dose of virus. They develop antibodies to the virus and usually
do not become ill from the disease. Blood is drawn from the chickens
weekly and, the serum is sent to the State Lab in Tampa to be tested
for antibodies to the arbo-viruses.
If antibodies are detected, the Health department can notify medical
doctors, veterinarians, County Mosquito Control, and the general
public of potential encephalitis disease transmission. The Health
Department works with the County Mosquito Control Division to prevent
the spread of mosquito borne diseases. Mosquito Control sets up
and monitors mosquito traps near the Sentinel Chicken sites to identify
the species of mosquitoes in the area. They then initiate control
measures.
The Sentinel Chicken sites are maintained by volunteers from the
community. At present there are 6 volunteer sites with 6 chickens
each. We also maintain a reserve flock of chickens at our Golden
Glades headquarters. These reserve chickens are used to replace
the sentinels at the volunteer sites when needed and to stock new
volunteer sites. For the future, we plan to raise and take care
of young chickens to replace our current stock.
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for this Program please
contact:
Michael Rybolowik
Environmental Supervisor II
Miami-Dade County Health Department
Division of Environmental Health & Engineering
1725 N. W. 167th Street
Miami, FL 33056
Tel: 305-623-3500
Fax: 305-623-3645
Email: michael_rybolowik@doh.state.fl.us
Dead Birds Collection
The Miami Dade County Health Department (MDCHD) has been implementing
a dead bird collection and surveillance reporting program since
1999. The purpose of the program is:
1. To detect and predict mosquito borne illnesses in a timely manner
in the county
2. To implement the necessary public health measures to prevent
the spread of mosquito borne diseases to the general population.
We provide services under this program 24 hours a day, seven day
a week (24/7). We do not recommend that the public collect dead
birds. Trevor Coke is in charge of this program. He can be reached
at 305-623-3574 during the regular office operation, or the on call
number 305-324-2400, or 1-800-955-8771.
Procedure:
1. Environmental health staff receives reports of dead birds from
the community. Here are the telephone numbers the public should
use to report dead birds: During normal working hours (Monday to
Friday between 8:00 am to 5:00 pm) # 305-623-3574 or 305-623-3500.
During Holidays, weekends, and outside normal working hours 305-324-2400
or 1-800-222-1222 (FL Poison Info Center).
2. Environmental health staff enters the information onto a database
on the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission website.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission is the agency in Florida
responsible for investigations of dead wild bird clusters. They
want dead birds reported to their website: www.MyFWC.com/bird. Information
concerning dead bird clusters is evaluated for a range of diseases
that cause wild bird mortality. This includes Avian Influenza (AI).
3. After the report has been received, a request card to pick up
the dead bird is generated and is assigned to a member of our field
staff.
4. If the dead bird is in good condition (i.e., is still in a fresh
state with minimal decay), field staff collects the dead bird for
testing.
5. The staff member transports the dead bird in a cooler, on ice,
to the FDOH/Miami Laboratory for shipment to the FDOH/Tampa Laboratory
for virus analysis and isolation.
6. If the dead bird is not appropriate for testing, the field staff
will collect it anyway and make arrangements to have it disposed
of properly.
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