Birds infected with West Nile virus have been found in Arkansas, but so far none of those have been in St. Francis County.
Also, there are no confirmed cases of West Nile in humans in the state.
Melissa Ward of the St. Francis County Health Office confirmed this morning that no West Nile-infected birds have been found locally.
One bird found in St. Francis County was reported to have the virus last year.
A press release from the state Health Department stated that birds testing positive for the virus have been found in Crawford and Hot Spring counties, as well as Benton and Clark counties. Sebastian and Logan counties have reported horses with the virus.
The West Nile virus seems especially deadly to crows and blue jays, according to the press release. People finding dead crows and blue jays should bring them to the nearest Health Department.
The bird must have died recently. A bird cannot be tested if it is decomposing. Also, it is recommended that citizens not handle the dead birds with their bare hands. They should use rubber gloves. If gloves aren't available, the safest way to handle a dead bird is to put one's hand into a plastic bag, grasp the bird with that hand and then invert the sack over the bird. The bag should then be tied and placed inside another bag, to prevent cross-contamination.
If a bird cannot be delivered immediately, it can be kept in an ice chest until it can be taken to the local health unit, the release continued.
West Nile virus is transmitted by infected mosquitoes to humans, horses and other animals.
Symptoms may begin within 14 days following the bite, and consist of fever, muscle and joint aches, listlessness and in severe cases, headaches which may indicate encephalitis.
According to the press release, most people infected with West Nile don't experience more than a day or two of mild flu-like symptoms. Those at greatest risk and the very old and those with underlying health problems.
The release further stated that the best prevention is to not get bitten.
St. Francis County is one of 57 counties across the state, and four in the Delta, which will receive funding through the federal government's Payments-In-Lieu-of Taxes (PILT) program.
Arkansas counties will receive $2,834,030 as a part of the PILT program which compensates counties for non-taxable federal lands within their borders. The funding is administered by the U.S. Department of Interior's Bureau of Land Management.
While St. Francis County will receive $256 for federal lands located in the Pine Tree Area, other Delta counties will take in substantially more. Monroe County will receive $9,067; Lee will receive $8,127, and Phillips County will receive $6,766. Statewide, Newton County will take the lion's share of PILT payments, getting $284,718. They're followed closely by Scott and Garland counties which will receive $272,737 and $206,604 respectively.
Last year the state received $2,807,672 in fiscal year 2002 PILT payments. This year, approximately $218 million in PILT payments are expected nationwide, which is an increase of more than $8 million from 2002. Close to 1,900 local governments will receive the funding annually.
The Literacy Council of St. Francis County recently received a grant of $3,116.
According to Mary Ella Riley, coordinator of the St. Francis County council, the grant, from ProLiteracy Worldwide, was through its National Book Scholarship Fund and required a local match.
She said it shows how much funding a local contribution can mean.
"The local council had to match it with 10 percent," which came to $311.60, according to Riley. "That lets people know that when we do fundraisers, sometimes you have to spend some money in order to receive some grants. For $311.60, we got $3116 worth of materials and books."
The books and workbooks which will be purchased with the grant money have a special purpose, according to Riley.
"This (the grant) is all geared toward family literacy," she said. "It is to work with parents and their children to help families get involved with their children's reading and school. And it also is aimed at getting children to enjoy reading and then reading on their own."
The local family literacy program is called Even Start. Parents receive direct tutoring, and the Literacy Council's library will have fiction works added to it for use by adult students and their tutors.
Riley said the adult and family literacy center has been in existence for two years, but expansion is needed.
"These materials from the NBSF will help parents assist their children with reading," she said.
Some of the materials will also help the English As Second Language program.
Since its inception in 1995, the National Book Scholarship Fund has distributed more than $1.6 million worth of books and education materials to literacy providers around the country.