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Health officials set up bird-flu hotline
Health officials set up bird-flu hotline
Public urged to call about sick or dead fowl in Colorado
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4620567,00.html
Public urged to call about sick or dead fowl in Colorado
http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_4620567,00.html
State health and agriculture officials established a telephone hotline Thursday so the public can report sick or dead birds that might be carrying avian flu. The highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus has not been detected anywhere in North America, so you're probably more likely to win the next Powerball than to find a wild bird killed by the virus in Colorado.
"We don't want to cause undue concern, but we would like people to know who to call if they see sick or dying birds," said acting state veterinarian Keith Roehr.
The number is 877-462-2911.
The line is staffed from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.As of Wednesday, 194 human cases of laboratory-confirmed H5N1 influenza from nine countries had been reported to the World Health Organization. Fifty-six percent of the victims (109 of 194) died.
As the weather warms and mosquitoes start to hatch, West Nile virus will resurface in Colorado. The mosquito-borne virus will kill its share of crows, ravens, magpies and jays, which are members of the corvid family.
So if you find a dead corvid this summer, West Nile may be to blame, not bird flu.
And if you find several dead songbirds near a bird feeder, the culprit could be salmonella bacteria - not bird flu.
Callers to the hotline may be directed to the closest Division of Wildlife office, their county health department, or to Colorado State University's veterinary diagnostic laboratory in Fort Collins, depending on the type of birds involved.
H5N1 is a bird virus that rarely affects humans. It has killed or led to the slaughter of more than 200 million chickens, ducks, turkeys and other domestic fowl in Asia, Europe and Africa.
Last month, federal health officials announced that H5N1-infected birds are likely to reach this country by the end of the year. Migratory waterfowl could be the carriers, and many scientists suspect the virus will enter the country in Alaska.
Bird flu could eventually reach Colorado in migratory birds or through an illegal shipment of birds smuggled into Denver International Airport, said wildlife veterinarian Laurie Baeten, who is leading the Colorado Division of Wildlife's bird flu surveillance effort.
Baeten said Thursday that H5N1 is "unlikely to show up in migratory birds in this state this year."
The division received $50,000 from the U.S. Agriculture Department to test 500 migratory birds for H5N1 this year. About 175 wild birds have been screened since December, and all the tests came back negative, Baeten said.
The primary focus of the Colorado migratory-bird testing program will be ducks: northern pintails, mallards, American green-winged teal, and American wigeons. Migratory Canada geese also will be tested, along with two types of shore birds: sandpipers and dowitchers.
Who to call
? The state's hotline number for reporting sick or dead birds is 877-462-2911. It is staffed seven days a week.
? As the weather warms and mosquitoes start to hatch, West Nile virus will likely resurface in Colorado. The mosquito-bornevirus is expected to kill crows, ravens, magpies and jays, allmembers of the corvid family.
"We don't want to cause undue concern, but we would like people to know who to call if they see sick or dying birds," said acting state veterinarian Keith Roehr.
The number is 877-462-2911.
The line is staffed from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.As of Wednesday, 194 human cases of laboratory-confirmed H5N1 influenza from nine countries had been reported to the World Health Organization. Fifty-six percent of the victims (109 of 194) died.
As the weather warms and mosquitoes start to hatch, West Nile virus will resurface in Colorado. The mosquito-borne virus will kill its share of crows, ravens, magpies and jays, which are members of the corvid family.
So if you find a dead corvid this summer, West Nile may be to blame, not bird flu.
And if you find several dead songbirds near a bird feeder, the culprit could be salmonella bacteria - not bird flu.
Callers to the hotline may be directed to the closest Division of Wildlife office, their county health department, or to Colorado State University's veterinary diagnostic laboratory in Fort Collins, depending on the type of birds involved.
H5N1 is a bird virus that rarely affects humans. It has killed or led to the slaughter of more than 200 million chickens, ducks, turkeys and other domestic fowl in Asia, Europe and Africa.
Last month, federal health officials announced that H5N1-infected birds are likely to reach this country by the end of the year. Migratory waterfowl could be the carriers, and many scientists suspect the virus will enter the country in Alaska.
Bird flu could eventually reach Colorado in migratory birds or through an illegal shipment of birds smuggled into Denver International Airport, said wildlife veterinarian Laurie Baeten, who is leading the Colorado Division of Wildlife's bird flu surveillance effort.
Baeten said Thursday that H5N1 is "unlikely to show up in migratory birds in this state this year."
The division received $50,000 from the U.S. Agriculture Department to test 500 migratory birds for H5N1 this year. About 175 wild birds have been screened since December, and all the tests came back negative, Baeten said.
The primary focus of the Colorado migratory-bird testing program will be ducks: northern pintails, mallards, American green-winged teal, and American wigeons. Migratory Canada geese also will be tested, along with two types of shore birds: sandpipers and dowitchers.
Who to call
? The state's hotline number for reporting sick or dead birds is 877-462-2911. It is staffed seven days a week.
? As the weather warms and mosquitoes start to hatch, West Nile virus will likely resurface in Colorado. The mosquito-bornevirus is expected to kill crows, ravens, magpies and jays, allmembers of the corvid family.
So there I sat, babysitting the dead goose while it's mate honked woefully and garded over its body. There were all sorts of people who came to look at it, not to mention families with small children. Thankfully they didn't get too close. I'd finally had enough and decided to call Animal Control. They responded in about 30 min. and said that he agreed the animal should be tested as it showed no signs of trauma. They work closley with the CO Dept. of Public Health and Environment which is where the abover phone # goes to and with the Div. of Wildlife. Hope the poor bird was just old and tired and it's time was up. I'll follow up w/ test results and let you know in about a week.
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