The forum, which will be held from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center, will discuss the human and animal risks associated with the disease as well as control measures under way to reduce the further spread of the disease.

Speakers will include Dr. Gary Mullen, Auburn University professor of entomology, who will discuss human risks and control measures, and Ashley Lovell, a USDA/Wildlife Services biologist who is coordinating statewide surveillance of West Nile virus activity.

While arrangements are still tentative, the forum will include a spokesperson from the Lee County Health Department as well as experts who will discuss risks to the animal population. City officials from Auburn and Opelika also will participate.

Forum sponsors include the Auburn University College of Agriculture, the cities of Auburn and Opelika, the Lee County Health Department, the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and the Lee County Cooperative Extension Office.

The announcement of a sixth confirmed case of West Nile virus in Alabama underscores why the disease has become such a serious health concern.

The most recent person stricken with WNV is from Mobile County. The first confirmed WNV infection was detected earlier this month in a 71-year-old Dale County resident. Since then, cases also have been reported in Houston, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa counties as well as a second case in Dale County.

According to Ashley Lovell, the disease has been identified in 45 of Alabama’s 67 counties this year. More than 290 birds, 49 percent of all those tested, have tested positive for WNV thus far. This far exceeds the level of virus activity reported in 2001, when 59 positive birds in 13 counties were detected, and none earlier than the end of August.

Meanwhile, the cities of Auburn and Opelika as well as Auburn University are stepping up their mosquito control activities now that several areas have tested positive for WNV.

Mosquitoes that have tested positive for WNV have been confirmed in two locations on the Auburn University campus, Mullen says, and three additional locations have tested positive in Auburn.

For more information about the forum, contact Dr. Jeff Clary, Lee County Extension coordinator, at (334) 749-3353, or Jim Langcuster, Extension News and Public Affairs specialist, at (334) 844-5686.

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