Arbovirus Surveillance
Arbovirus Surveillance
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.
