In 1999, the fast moving West Nile Virus was discovered in New York. In three short years it spread across the country killing humans, birds and animals. An alarming number of birds of prey were infected and fell victim to the disease. Across the country raptor centers, such as the Bird of Prey Foundation in Broomfield, CO., worked to nurse sick birds back to health or collected and catalogued dead raptors suspected of succumbing to the disease. Dead birds were wrapped in plastic and kept in freezers until they were either incinerated or sent to labs for virus testing. (15 images in this series)