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Wildlife Data 2000 BLUE=Article information Black=calculated Jim West harpub at hotmail dot com  
  Epicenter OutsideEpicenter Totals Total Received    
  WNVpos WNVneg Tested WNVpos WNVneg Tested WNVpos WNVneg Tested Pesticide  
                         
Conn Post, 9/18/2000 THEME: Banned pesticide residue causation, await test results 536 6,464 7,000 15,000    
  "NYS found 15,000" "7,000 were tested"   7.70%          
                         
NYT, 11/27/2000 THEME: "Relatively few animals, the lab found, died from accidental pesticide exposure." 10,000 s/b< 15,000
    10,000 "examined"              
    9,000 birds + 1,000 mammals                
    "Total Received" differs from Conn Post: 10,000 vs 15,000  
                         
Int'l WNV Conference THEME: DEC/Multi-agency results study for year 2000            
4/5-7/2001 (Poster) 51% 49%   23% 77%   35% 65%        
  766 736 1,502 437 1,464 1,901 1,191 2,212 3,403 s/b<7,000
  Decided that n=tested birds. This decision crosschecks.            
  Decision based on 6/2-3/2001 articles, where total WNVpos numbers conform: 1,191 vs 1,263.    
  Obviously, bird death epidemic window has been shifted forward towards the apex of WNV positives.
  That is, the apex of bird deaths (June/July) was ignored, after the 9/18/2000 article, giving high WNVpos %.
  This shifting of the window means that released data might also be manipulated.      
  Thus, intake and autopsy data for for all 2000 bird deaths should be obtained (WNV and non-WNV).
  Note that bird deaths correlate with ozone levels throughout the summer.        
  Note that WNV positives can start in April, but most WNV positives occur late in the ozone season,  
  yet, WNV positives correlate with ozone during the end of the season, indicating they are related to an accumulated affect of zone. EPA states ozone damage occurs accumulatively.  
                         
TimesUnion, 6/2/2001 THEME: Pesticide causation (residues)          
              1,263     10,000 1,953  
  10,000 sent to lab, 'one fifth' (1,953) = pesticides, WNVpos=1,263      
                         
AP, 6/3/2001 THEME: Pesticide causation (residues). Mentions CHe inhibitors: Dursban, and Diazinon (banned or almost banned pesticides.
              1,263       1,953  
                         
Questions/Notes                      
Get comprehensive data for all animals for year 2000? Why can't I? Why only WNV positives?        
Why change of diagnosis from 8/22/99, and 9/5/99 (NYT) from toxics in the ground to WNV, for the initial crows?      
Explain 11/27/2000 NYT that described pesticide residue causation found in 'relatively few' animals (and that Rachel Carson's fears had not come to bear)
The 6/3/2001 view satisfies environmental groups, NoSpray, EPA, DEC, Ward Stone, other wildlife pathologists (banned pesticides (and WNV) did it).
The 6/3/2001 view satisfies chemical industry because they have been since 1999 officially ready to phase in the next generation of agricultural technology (GE and new pesticides)  
Carol Browner, (NYT 8/3/99) "'Many of these are 1950's-era chemicals,' she said. 'We can do better.'" after announcing the critical organophosphate review list, in 1999
Acceptance of the narrow banned pesticides view (6/2-3/2001 articles) view could polarize environmentalists,
however, my analysis of his 9 autopsies from 1998-2000 seem strong:              
When was the last time that a bird was diagnosed due to air pollution? What percent? (answer should be "zero")      
To avoid polarization from environmentalists, I'm espousing multi-factor diagnoses: That pesticides are factors, but that increased toxics  
caused the new disease event, that is, public realization of birds dropping from the sky in the summer of 1999, is air pollution, intensified by MTBE.
Also, the source of the banned pesticides has not been determined, and I have a good evidence (data) that these pesticides accumulate in animal fatty tissues from vapors in the air, that they are also air pollution: Residues in birds are the same ppm as residues found in air conditioner filters in Tri-state region.