Health officials in both Clallam and Jefferson counties are watching for signs of the West Nile Virus.

Both Dr. Tom Locke, health officer for both counties, and Mike McNickle, director of the Jefferson County Environmental Health Department urge residents to report dead birds, especially crows, blue jays and hawks, to the department for testing.

“We will ship them off to have them tested for West Nile Virus,” McNickle said.

The virus has not been detected in Jefferson or Clallam counties

Still, the risk exists through October, with September the peak month.

West Nile Virus has been confirmed in two locations in White Swan, southwest of Yakima, the state Department of Agriculture announced on Aug. 17.

McNickle said that, because it has reached the state, it could easily spread to the North Olympic Peninsula.

“We know the West Nile Virus is here, and so I say it’s only a matter of time,” McNickle said.

The virus was first detected in the United States in New York in 1999.

It has spread west and has been detected in 44 states, including Washington.

Locke said Washington state hopes to avoid what happened last summer to Idaho, when early August produced a wave of human cases that eventually totaled about 900 and claimed a dozen lives.

“Fortunately, that’s not happening in Idaho this year,” he said.

Washington – still the only state with little human West Nile activity – has had five to six years to prepare for the disease that has slowly spread across the country, Locke said.