The city’s plan to begin spraying Queens with mosquito pesticide remains on hold.
Officials said yesterday that results from a second round of tests on a “sentinel” chicken suspected of being infected with West Nile virus haven’t come in yet.
Mayor Giuliani urged calm following the discovery that the chicken – one of several placed around the city to detect the virus – was infected near Flushing Meadow Park in Queens, the site of last year’s outbreak.
But officials said the spraying, tentatively scheduled for Monday, depended on whether further testing confirms the infection.
The city had expected to get the results yesterday or today from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta and a Department of Agriculture lab in Iowa.
But late yesterday, a Health Department spokesman said they hadn’t come in and were now expected in a few days.
Giuliani reminded listeners on his WABC radio show that no one in the city has been infected with West Nile virus this year, and said the additional tests could show the chicken wasn’t infected after all – “and therefore no spraying is necessary.”
But he said that even if it was a false alarm, the steps taken so far in anticipation of the return of the virus were valuable “because I believe we’re going to have to deal with this situation several times this summer.”
If spraying is necessary, he added, “then we’ve had advance warning and advance planning and we can get it done faster.”
Last summer, the West Nile virus killed six people in the metropolitan area – including four in the city.
It also infected 62 others, including 45 in the city, most in northwest Queens.
The initial positive result for the chicken was the first indication the virus had survived the winter and was back in the city.
It followed the discovery last week that the virus had killed crows in Rockland County and River Edge, N.J.
The virus can, in extreme cases, lead to encephalitis, or swelling of the brain. Elderly individuals or those with weakened immune systems are most at risk.