Zoos act to guard occupants against West Nile virus

MIAMI -- Florida zoos are taking measures to protect their animals from West Nile virus as the mosquito-borne disease spreads to animals and humans throughout the South.

Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Gardens in Tampa, Disney's Animal Kingdom at Orlando, the Miami Metrozoo and Lion County Safari in Palm Beach County have given some of their animals a horse vaccine to protect them from the disease. Some parks have given the vaccine to other hoofed animals and birds.

At Lowry Park Zoo, the staff has given the vaccine to its small collections of Haflinger and Przewalski horses, and will rely on blood samples from sentinel chickens to see whether the virus is present and other steps are needed. The zoo will not administer the vaccine to animals other than horses because "it is not proven to be effective," spokeswoman Heather Sitton said.

It is standard zoo practice to limit standing water, where mosquitoes can breed, and spray animal areas for insects, she said.

The vaccine was conditionally approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for horses only, but Miami Metrozoo gave it to some of its prized birds: 50 pink flamingos, along with some condors and harpy eagles.

As long as it was available, the zoo figured "it was worth a try," said Metrozoo veterinary technician Jacky Shaw.

Lion County Safari is giving vaccinations to its white rhinos and tapirs, which are related to horses, and its birds might be next, veterinarian Rose Borkowski said.

Jacksonville Zoological Gardens gave the vaccine to its zebras, tapirs and rhinos, spokeswoman Angie Lindsey said.

At Busch Gardens, the vaccine was used on the park's seven Clydesdale horses. The park worked with the state to eliminate standing water, and it periodically tests its birds, spokesman Gerard Hoeppner said.

Disney's Animal Kingdom has vaccinated its horses, which number more than 100, and has been spraying for mosquitoes, spokeswoman Rena Callahan said. Its birds have been given blood tests.

Fish and bacteria also are being employed in the fight against mosquitoes.

Parrot Jungle in Miami has many fish, including the mosquito larvae-eating gambusia, in its water to chow down on the pests, said Jeff Shimonski, director of horticulture. They also drop a special bacteria called "mosquito dunks" into small pockets of water to kill the larvae.

Parrot Jungle has been spraying for mosquitoes every morning for more than 20 years, except in winter, Shimonski said. This shields their exotic birds and monkeys from other mosquito-spread diseases like malaria.

Meanwhile, a 71-year-old Sumter County man was recovering at home from encephalitis caused by the West Nile virus. He is the first Floridian identified with the virus this year.

State health officials said he is believed to have gotten it while in Louisiana, where seven people have died from the disease.

They wouldn't identify the man, but the Villages Daily Sun newspaper said he is James Murphy and carried an interview with him Wednesday.

"I've had heart surgery and shoulder surgery but nothing like this," Murphy said. "This is brutal." He said he lost 30 pounds.

-- Staff writer Josh Zimmer contributed to this report.

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