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Health officials in D.C. are urging residents across the city to take precaution after four birds in four different neighborhoods tested positive for West Nile virus last month.
D.C. Health said a partner agency, City Wildlife, tested four American crows and the results came back positive. The birds were found in Wards 2, 3, 5 and 7, according to Joy McFarlane Mills, program manager for the agency’s Division of Animal Services.
The health agency tests for the virus from June until October, when the weather is warmest. Most of the testing has yielded negative results, McFarlane Mills told WTOP. Officials usually test mosquitoes, but when four dead birds were found, those were tested too.
“It’s here, and we always need to take prevention mechanisms,” McFarlane Mills said. “Just continue to know that it’s endemic to the District of Columbia. We don’t want people to stay indoors. We want you to still do everything in the District, but just make sure you’re taking precautions. Safety is key in protecting yourself.”
The latest positive results are the city’s first in wild birds since two American crows were found to have the virus in 2021. An average of three human cases were reported annually between 2020 and 2024, according to D.C. Health data, and there haven’t been any human cases reported so far in 2025.
D.C. Health notified personnel and residents in the impacted areas, and McFarlane Mills said that means wearing long sleeves and long pants, and using an Environmental Protection Agency-approved repellent, particularly from dawn to dusk.
Birds are what McFarlane Mills described as a “dead host … but the key concern is the vector of mosquitoes.”
Mosquitoes could feed on infected birds, and spread the virus to humans through a bite on the skin. People who get infected usually report flu-like symptoms, including fever and chills.
“West Nile virus has been here. The mosquitoes are going to be here. Just (ensure) that you are taking those prevention and protection precautions,” McFarlane Mills said.
The virus has been in D.C. since 2002, McFarlane Mills said.
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