London birds affected with mortal disease which people can catch

Another dead London crow - the second in less than a week - has tested positive for West Nile virus.

Jim Reffle, West Nile expert at the Middlesex-London Health Unit, said dead birds are usually the first sign the virus has reached a community, London Free Press reports.

Most people who contract the illness, from infected mosquitoes feeding on infected birds, do not get sick. In rare cases, though, people will become ill with flu-like symptoms.

This latest crow was found in west London, the first in northeast London.

The two birds are the only ones among 15 tested this year to test positive for West Nile virus.