The man in charge of tracking the spread of West Nile virus in Sacramento County says the dead crow was found in the midtown area.

"But really that location doesn’t matter because the bird flies around. I think the more important message is that we have West Nile virus that has been detected within the Sacramento County area."

David Brown, who heads the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District, says 2006 could be a rough year because all the wet weather may ultimately help breed more virus infected mosquitoes.

"The more rain and snowfall that we have certainly suggests that we’ll have plenty of water in our summer months when it starts warming up and that’s one of the first indicators on whether we’ll have a difficult season or not."

Brown says people can help stop the spread of West Nile virus by draining any sources of standing water that could support mosquito breeding habitats.