THIS is the year West Nile virus exploded in North America. More than 3200 people fell ill with fever and, for some, encephalitis, and 177 have died. Last year only 66 people fell ill. Even so, the biggest threat may not be to people but to millions of the continent’s birds.
While any new human disease is frightening, media coverage has exaggerated the public health problem. In contrast, few people seem to care about the impending slaughter of millions of birds of many species. Some species may never recover, because of the way the virus spreads.
West Nile virus, which…
