Housing and General Sanitation

Phone: 585 753-5171

• Performs surveillance of birds, mammals, and larval and adult mosquito populations affected by the West Nile Virus. Birds and mosquitoes are submitted to New York State laboratory for analysis.
• Performs mosquito larviciding of sewer catch basins and potential mosquito reservoirs in targeted high- risk areas to reduce the mosquito population during the breeding season.

Rabies and Animal Bites

Phone: 585 753-5864

• Responds to reported animal bites and potential exposures, including consultation with medical personnel for follow up on post-exposure medical treatment when necessary.
• Submits suspected animal specimens to the New York State Laboratory in Albany for rabies analysis.
• Monitors 10-day confinement and 6-month quarantine of domestic animals involved in human contact or contact with potentially rabid animals.
• Conducts FREE RABIES IMMUNIZATION CLINICS for dogs and cats owned by Monroe County residents (see LINK below).
• Immunization records are maintained for animals receiving immunizations at clinics.

Informational Links and Documents

• Link to NYS Department of Health Rabies site - see video on "How to Safely Catch a Bat"
• Download the NYSDOH Rabies Treatment Algorithm (198k PDF)
• Download the Animal Bite/Contact Report (36k PDF)
• Download the 2009 Rabies Clinic Schedule 

Lyme Disease

Phone: 585 753-5171

Submits ticks to the New York State laboratory in Buffalo for species identification.

Learn more from the New York State Department of Health Lyme Disease Fact Sheet.

Rodent Control

Phone: 585 753-5171

• Investigates complaints relating to unsanitary housing conditions.
• Enforces Monroe County Sanitary Code Article II, General Sanitation and Article IV, Habitable Buildings.
• Investigates heating complaints and assures compliance with applicable codes.
• Investigates rodent and insect infestation complaints.
• Performs rodent baiting in conjunction with the Monroe County Division of Pure Waters in City of Rochester sewer system and catch basins to control rodent breeding.

Online Information

• Article II, General Sanitation
• Article IV, Habitable Buildings
• Controlling the Rat
• Get Rid of Cockroaches
• Mouse Control

West Nile Virus

West Nile virus (WNV) is an illness transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito. The illness is most serious for older people; healthy children and younger adults are at very low-risk for serious WNV infection.

Download the Larvicides Brochure (23k PDF).

More Information on West Nile Virus

• Centers for Disease Control–West Nile Virus
• West Nile Virus CDC Brochure

WNV: Dead Crow Reporting

The Monroe County Department of Public Health uses reports of dead crows as one tool to track the spread of West Nile Virus (WNV) in our community and to gauge the risk of this illness to humans.

While many bird species are affected by WNV, crows seem to be particularly susceptible. For this reason, only crows should be reported at this time. Crows are very large birds, usually over a foot and a half in length. They are considerably larger than blackbirds or starlings, which are often mistaken for crows. Crows are completely black in color, including their beak and feet.

To report dead crows:

• Call 585 753-5171 during business hours (8:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday–Friday).

Because it is assumed that WNV will re-emerge this year, only a small number of crows will be submitted for testing (several each week will be selected from calls made to staff during the work day).

Be sure to wear gloves or use a shovel to avoid direct hand contact with the bird, double bag it and dispose of it in the trash. Although birds cannot transmit WNV to humans, we still recommend such precautions as an extra measure of safety.

Again, even though most birds will not need to be tested this year, reports of dead crows are still very important to us. We plot the locations of dead crows reported to us on a map and compare such patterns to prior years. Doing so enables us to get a sense for how much WNV activity there is in a particular area and to determine if other measures should be taken.

Thank you for assisting in our efforts to track WNV and in protecting the public’s health.