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Fatal strain of bird flu fails to land in Alaska

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  • Fatal strain of bird flu fails to land in Alaska

    Fatal strain of bird flu fails to land in Alaska


    NED ROZELL
    ALASKA SCIENCE
    Published: June 29th, 2008 01:39 AM
    Last Modified: June 29th, 2008 04:25 AM
    Asian bird flu and its connection to Alaska was big news a few years ago, when dozens of Alaska scientists started checking birds migrating from Asia.So far, the news from the field is good.

    "There are strains of avian flu here, but not of the deadly stuff -- thank goodness," said Greg Wilkinson of the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
    The U.S. government spent millions in the last few years to enable biologists to capture migratory birds and swab their rear ends to search for signs of a deadly virus first found in Hong Kong in 1997.
    Since 2003, the Asian H5N1 virus has spread west across Asia to Europe and Africa, and has killed more than 240 people.
    Alaska, so far, is clean.
    "All agencies collectively sampled over 20,000 wild birds in Alaska, and the bottom line is that in 2006, we found garden-variety avian flu in 1.7 percent of those birds, and we didn't find any of the Asian H5N1," said Tom Rothe, the statewide waterfowl coordinator for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "In 2007, we sampled over 12,000 birds and 0.7 percent had common, low-pathogen influenza. Nationwide, over 100,000 birds were sampled (in 2006 and 2007) and nobody found any Asian H5N1." In 2008, Alaska researchers will again test about 12,000 birds, most of them waterfowl that can pick up flu viruses by ingesting water fouled with the feces or other bodily fluids of birds.
    Jon Runstadler, a veterinarian and an assistant professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is part of a team that has sampled 4,000 birds in Alaska since 2005 and 4,000 in the Russian Far East, Japan and Mongolia since 2006.
    "We found a lot of viruses, mostly in waterfowl, and most of those have come out of ducks in Minto Flats, which seems to be a relative hot spot for influenza," he said. "But we've not found any viruses that are highly pathogenic, and no H5N1."
    This year, Runstadler and his colleagues are sampling birds at Minto Flats all summer, rather than just convenient periods to catch birds, like when they are molting and lose their flight feathers.
    "It's fading away in the media," Runstadler said of the hubbub over the H5N1 virus, but "most people studying influenza feel like there will be a pandemic, or a pandemic-like situation, at some point due to the fact that it's a virus that does unique things in the way it evolves and exists in the natural world."
    The 1918 influenza virus that killed 50 million people -- and wiped out entire villages in Alaska -- was a bird flu that jumped to humans, which is why those in the know have paid attention to H5N1. Flu viruses are so mysterious that researchers think it's worthwhile to keep tabs on them, no matter that the present danger seems small.
    "While H5N1 is currently the most likely candidate because it's out there causing problems and moving around, we don't really know whether H5N1 is going to cause a problem, or whether (a similar type of virus will cause a problem)," Runstadler said.
    Why haven't Alaska scientists been finding infected birds here? The Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea might be acting as barriers to the deadly strain of flu that might be present in birds while they winter in Vietnam, Thailand or Indonesia.
    "Maybe they can't carry (the virus) that long," Rothe said. "Maybe they die before they get here, or the virus runs its course."
    Whatever the reason the deadly virus isn't showing up here, scientists will keep checking birds as long as the funding arrives to do so. http://www.adn.com/life/story/450020.html
    CSI:WORLD http://swineflumagazine.blogspot.com/

    treyfish2004@yahoo.com

  • #2
    Re: Fatal strain of bird flu fails to land in Alaska

    Seems like I read this same article before.

    I had the same thought as the first time I read it. Swab the wrong
    end of the bird, and you'll have less chance of getting a positive result.
    But, then everyone here already knew that.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Fatal strain of bird flu fails to land in Alaska

      Either the 'experts' are naive or they aren't keeping up with events in Far East Russia/Kamchatka and the Kurile Islands.

      H5N1 is set to make it's entry into North America.

      Nothing like tempting fate, especially when facing major migration movement in a matter of a month or so.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Fatal strain of bird flu fails to land in Alaska

        I believe one factor impacting the "spread" of AI in Alaska, is that these birds don't spend much time socializing/mixing. They have a very tight itinerary - breed and leave. Many also come back to same nesting area area, which may contribute to less spread of pathogens.

        If we compare the level of pathogen mixing in long distance migratory breeding areas with that of short distance migratory of local birds, I wonder what the numbers would be?

        It would be interesting to see if any of the tested birds are banded and known to be from heavily H5N1-infected areas.

        The time spent migrating may be increasing, since some wetlands areas are being drained by the melt of underlying permafrost - from global warming.

        .
        "The next major advancement in the health of American people will be determined by what the individual is willing to do for himself"-- John Knowles, Former President of the Rockefeller Foundation

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Fatal strain of bird flu fails to land in Alaska

          Not sure that I have read papers describing 'socializing' as a factor in H5N1 transmission among migrating birds.

          To be blunt, the transmission involves infected birds depositing droppings (and virons) into common staging areas. That is obvious. The virus goes into the same muck that certain waterbirds feed from (submerged and emergent plants, insects, roots, etc).

          So your key factor would be the number of birds infecting and migrating as a flock and the duration of time since shedding began (there being a semi-magic window of ~ 1-2 weeks). Flock condition and yes, migration distance and wetland environment are also key factors

          Long distance vs short distance: has been addressed indirectly in the literature.

          At present, the danger lies in complacence among Alaskan and US officials (DNR, USFW, USDA and others); we have ample evidence from China and Russia of asymptomatic carriers who are shedding virus that can quickly infect susceptible birds. We know from the numbers game (wildfowl field sampling statistics) that not all birds become ill or are carriers during migration.

          You need a match between active, asymptomatic carriers and susceptible recipients at staging/stopover and migration destinations. The disease is very obviously moving hopskip along the migration routes via staging areas along the Central Asian and East Asian/Australasian Flyways (and at their intersections). Thus, the patterns observed and reported in tedious detail here, 2006-present.

          Now, about that permafrost regression/subsidence...and change in migration timing/duration....

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