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Souce: http://thetundradrums.com/news/show/2132
Ten villages monitoring spring migrants for avian flu
DUSTIN SOLBERG
April 25, 2008 at 11:31AM AKST
This spring, Danny Mann will be on the front lines of the avian influenza surveillance effort in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
Though the highly contagious H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, as it?s commonly called, has never appeared anywhere in North America, public health and wildlife professionals are monitoring birds at the leading edge of the spring migration.
For his part, Mann has signed on as a testing manager with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. environmental health department to collect 300 samples from subsistence hunters in his village of Kipnuk.
"They give me a call on the phone or VHF and I go over to their house with my stuff. We?re like a mobile unit," he said. "I have gloves, swabs and some vials to put the swabs in. And of course, I document what kind of bird, where it was caught, male, female."
For their effort, participating hunters receive two steel shot shotgun shells ?in both 2-3/4- and 3-inch shells, and No. 2 and BB shot sizes ? for each bird presented for sampling.
In all, 10 Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages are participating in the YKHC surveillance effort. The local subsistence surveillance effort is part of a larger program in Alaska led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
YKHC hopes to collect 3,000 swab samples from the villages participating in the collection effort ? each site is selected after considering geographical location by wildlife professionals.
The villages selected for the study are: Chefornak, Eek, Hooper Bay, Kipnuk, Kwethluk, Mekoryuk, Pilot Station, Toksook Bay and Quinhagak. Last spring?s surveillance effort in the same 10 subsistence villages collected 2,100 samples.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified 29 priority species for its surveillance effort. In spring in Kipnuk, Mann said, white-fronted geese, king eiders and black brants comprise much of the subsistence harvest.
Subsistence-hunted birds in the Delta include the tundra swan, sandhill crane, lesser snow goose, Northern pintail, long-tailed duck, common eider and mallard ducks, according to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp.
Hunters in the selected villages are asked to bring subsistence-caught birds to their designated testing manager.
YKHC will provide regular updates to the people of the YK Delta about surveillance efforts, including prompt notification of any positive identification of the H5N1 virus.
The health corporation advises the following safe handling procedures when handling wild game:
? Do not eat, drink or smoke while cleaning birds.
? Wash your hands and knife thoroughly with soap after cleaning or handling birds or eggs.
? Cook wild birds or eggs thoroughly before eating them.
For more information concerning the surveillance effort in the YK Delta, contact Kelsey Hustedt, the YKHC avian influenza coordinator, at (800) 478-6599 or 543-6421.
Dustin Solberg can be reached at (907) 348-2480 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 480.
Ten villages monitoring spring migrants for avian flu
DUSTIN SOLBERG
April 25, 2008 at 11:31AM AKST
This spring, Danny Mann will be on the front lines of the avian influenza surveillance effort in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta.
Though the highly contagious H5N1 strain of avian influenza, or bird flu, as it?s commonly called, has never appeared anywhere in North America, public health and wildlife professionals are monitoring birds at the leading edge of the spring migration.
For his part, Mann has signed on as a testing manager with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp. environmental health department to collect 300 samples from subsistence hunters in his village of Kipnuk.
"They give me a call on the phone or VHF and I go over to their house with my stuff. We?re like a mobile unit," he said. "I have gloves, swabs and some vials to put the swabs in. And of course, I document what kind of bird, where it was caught, male, female."
For their effort, participating hunters receive two steel shot shotgun shells ?in both 2-3/4- and 3-inch shells, and No. 2 and BB shot sizes ? for each bird presented for sampling.
In all, 10 Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta villages are participating in the YKHC surveillance effort. The local subsistence surveillance effort is part of a larger program in Alaska led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
YKHC hopes to collect 3,000 swab samples from the villages participating in the collection effort ? each site is selected after considering geographical location by wildlife professionals.
The villages selected for the study are: Chefornak, Eek, Hooper Bay, Kipnuk, Kwethluk, Mekoryuk, Pilot Station, Toksook Bay and Quinhagak. Last spring?s surveillance effort in the same 10 subsistence villages collected 2,100 samples.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identified 29 priority species for its surveillance effort. In spring in Kipnuk, Mann said, white-fronted geese, king eiders and black brants comprise much of the subsistence harvest.
Subsistence-hunted birds in the Delta include the tundra swan, sandhill crane, lesser snow goose, Northern pintail, long-tailed duck, common eider and mallard ducks, according to the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp.
Hunters in the selected villages are asked to bring subsistence-caught birds to their designated testing manager.
YKHC will provide regular updates to the people of the YK Delta about surveillance efforts, including prompt notification of any positive identification of the H5N1 virus.
The health corporation advises the following safe handling procedures when handling wild game:
? Do not eat, drink or smoke while cleaning birds.
? Wash your hands and knife thoroughly with soap after cleaning or handling birds or eggs.
? Cook wild birds or eggs thoroughly before eating them.
For more information concerning the surveillance effort in the YK Delta, contact Kelsey Hustedt, the YKHC avian influenza coordinator, at (800) 478-6599 or 543-6421.
Dustin Solberg can be reached at (907) 348-2480 or toll free at (800) 770-9830, ext. 480.