AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
<TABLE class=contentpaneopen><TBODY><TR><TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>Wednesday, 29 August 2007
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>The United States Department of Agriculture has positively identified the pathogenic form of avian flu--H5N1--in samples taken from birds last week from Mongolia.
It is the first instance of this viral strain occurring in wild migratory birds with no apparent contact with domestic poultry or waterfowl.
Present in Mongolia for a health survey of wild bird populations in the south and north of the country, field veterinarians working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Drs. William Karesh and Martin Gilbert responded to initial reports of the most recent avian influenza outbreak in Khuvsgul Province near the Russian border from the Mongolian Ministry of Food and Agriculture, which conducted preliminary testing of birds that died at Erkhel Lake.
Their finding coincided with confirmations of cases of avian influenza in Russia and Kazakhstan. Karesh and Gilbert immediately traveled to the site with a team of Mongolian virologists, veterinarians, and public health officials. Approximately 100 dead birds were found at the site.
The team--including personnel from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Mongolian National Academy of Sciences, the Mongolian Institute of Veterinary Medicine, the State Central Veterinary Laboratory, Ministry of Food and Agriculture Veterinary Department, and the Ministry of Health Mongolian Center of Communicable Diseases--collected samples from hundreds of wild birds, both live and dead.
Wildlife and health experts maintain that indiscriminate culling of wild migratory bird populations would be ineffective in preventing the spread of avian flu. "Focusing our limited resources on the hubs and activities where humans, livestock, and wildlife come into close contact," says Dr. Karesh, is "the best hope for successfully preventing the spread of avian flu and protecting both people and animals."
http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/1336/2/
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top colSpan=2>The United States Department of Agriculture has positively identified the pathogenic form of avian flu--H5N1--in samples taken from birds last week from Mongolia.
It is the first instance of this viral strain occurring in wild migratory birds with no apparent contact with domestic poultry or waterfowl.
Present in Mongolia for a health survey of wild bird populations in the south and north of the country, field veterinarians working for the Wildlife Conservation Society, Drs. William Karesh and Martin Gilbert responded to initial reports of the most recent avian influenza outbreak in Khuvsgul Province near the Russian border from the Mongolian Ministry of Food and Agriculture, which conducted preliminary testing of birds that died at Erkhel Lake.
Their finding coincided with confirmations of cases of avian influenza in Russia and Kazakhstan. Karesh and Gilbert immediately traveled to the site with a team of Mongolian virologists, veterinarians, and public health officials. Approximately 100 dead birds were found at the site.
The team--including personnel from the Wildlife Conservation Society, the Mongolian National Academy of Sciences, the Mongolian Institute of Veterinary Medicine, the State Central Veterinary Laboratory, Ministry of Food and Agriculture Veterinary Department, and the Ministry of Health Mongolian Center of Communicable Diseases--collected samples from hundreds of wild birds, both live and dead.
Wildlife and health experts maintain that indiscriminate culling of wild migratory bird populations would be ineffective in preventing the spread of avian flu. "Focusing our limited resources on the hubs and activities where humans, livestock, and wildlife come into close contact," says Dr. Karesh, is "the best hope for successfully preventing the spread of avian flu and protecting both people and animals."
http://www.mongolia-web.com/content/view/1336/2/
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
