Health functionaries have stated that West Nile virus has been found in a fowl in Spanish Fort in Baldwin County, which is the fifth case of the mosquito-borne infection in 2007.

Charlotte Plumb, environmental supervisor for the Baldwin County Health Department said that the disease was detected in a sentry chicken, one of the chicks placed in cages at different locations in the region of Baldwin and examined regularly for the existence of diseases channeled by mosquitoes.

Plumb said, “We know we have West Nile in the county. It’s pretty much all over the area.”

Earlier this month, sentinel chickens in Loxley, Silverhill, Robertsdale and Foley were also found to be infected with West Nile, Plumb said.

According to health officials West Nile and Eastern equine encephalomyelitis are spreading to human beings through mosquito bite after the bug has fed on an contaminated bird. Horses can also get the infection.

The majority of people infected do not see symptoms. In grave cases, indications include high fever, severe headache, nausea, stiff neck, confusion, muscle weakness, paralysis, disorientation and seizures that are harsh enough to take medical attention.

According to Dr. J.P. Lofgren, state epidemiologist while West Nile is not often lethal, about one-third of the patients who get Eastern equine encephalitis pass away.

According to state health reports, 13 human cases of West Nile have been reported in the state until now in 2007.

Melissa Tucker, director of epidemiology for the Mobile County Health Department, said that health functionaries reported a possible human case in July in Mobile County, but that infectivity could not be confirmed as West Nile and is not integrated on the state list. She also said that mosquitoes trapped at the man's home off Cottage Hill Road did test positive for West Nile.

No West Nile human cases have been reported in Baldwin County.

In the state’s one human case of Eastern equine encephalitis, a 6-month-old Gulf Shores boy, Dylan Chaparro, expired Sept. 12. Eastern equine encephalitis was also noticed in a sentinel chicken in Orange Beach in June and an additional chicken in Lillian in July.