Syracuse, N.Y. -- If you find a dead bird in the area, Upstate Medical University and the Onondaga County Health Department are asking you to let them know.

An Upstate lab is working with the health department to test bird carcasses for mosquito-borne illnesses, such as West Nile Virus, according to a news release from the university.

Onondaga County previously used bird testing as a method of tracking the spread of West Nile in the early 2000s, Jeff Till, the health department’s director of environmental health, told syracuse.com. Once the county had confirmed the presence of the virus in the area, it shifted to testing mosquito pools, which it still does.

But now, the SUNY Center for Vector-Borne Diseases will test birds alongside state mosquito testing , collecting “additiona

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