http://www.promedmail.org/pls/prome..._BACK_PAGE,F2400_P1001_PUB_MAIL_ID:1000,37595
AVIAN INFLUENZA, POULTRY VS MIGRATORY BIRDS (27)
************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Sun 27 May 2007
Source: Wisconsin State Journal [edited]
<http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=136718&ntpid=3>
An unusual delivery expected in Madison [Wisconsin] this week will
mark the 2nd year of a high-stakes effort to protect the country from
deadly bird flu. Shipping boxes will carry waste samples, frozen in
tiny vials, from birds in Alaska to the National Wildlife Health
Center off Schroeder Road. Scientists will test the samples to see if
the H5N1 bird flu virus, which continues to devastate flocks in Asia
and Europe, and kill some people, has arrived in the U.S. Meanwhile,
the state will again test for bird flu this summer [2007], with an
increased focus on dead birds.
None of the 28 000 samples from ducks, geese, and other wild birds
tested at the National Wildlife Health Center last year [2006] -- or
the 102 000 samples tested at other U.S. labs -- showed evidence of
the troublesome H5N1 virus, though other strains of bird flu were
found. Nonetheless, the threat of H5N1 remains. "We have shown as
best we can that H5N1 was not in North America in 2006," said Hon Ip,
who oversees the diagnostic virology lab at the National Wildlife
Health Center. "But as long as the situation is unresolved in other
parts of the world, surveillance needs to continue."
Other samples will come this summer and fall [2007] from live birds
trapped by biologists, mostly in West Coast states but also in other
parts of the country, Ip said. Nearly 28 000 samples will be tested
again this year [2007].
The testing of last year's [2006] samples revealed 2 new findings, Ip said.
[Some bird species, such as the Glaucous gull, were found for the 1st
time to carry some kind of bird flu. In addition, samples from
several birds showed that viruses from Asia and North America mixed
in the same bird -- the kind of genetic exchange that could create a
pandemic strain. The latter was not revealed before. Mod.MHJ]
The [Wisconsin] state Department of Natural Resources will test about
1500 birds this year [2007], said Julie Langenberg, a veterinary
wildlife health specialist. Many samples will come from ducks and
geese killed by hunters, as was the case last year [2006], Langenberg
said. Some samples will again be taken from live shorebirds. But the
state hopes to test more dead birds this year [2007], because studies
suggest they are most likely to carry bird flu, she said.
Anyone who sees unusual clusters of bird deaths is asked to call the
state's Dead Bird Hotline at (800) 433-1610. "We want everybody to do
what they can to help us identify dead birds," Langenberg said.
[Byline: David Wahlberg]</pre>
AVIAN INFLUENZA, POULTRY VS MIGRATORY BIRDS (27)
************************************************
A ProMED-mail post
<http://www.promedmail.org>
ProMED-mail is a program of the
International Society for Infectious Diseases
<http://www.isid.org>
Date: Sun 27 May 2007
Source: Wisconsin State Journal [edited]
<http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/local/index.php?ntid=136718&ntpid=3>
An unusual delivery expected in Madison [Wisconsin] this week will
mark the 2nd year of a high-stakes effort to protect the country from
deadly bird flu. Shipping boxes will carry waste samples, frozen in
tiny vials, from birds in Alaska to the National Wildlife Health
Center off Schroeder Road. Scientists will test the samples to see if
the H5N1 bird flu virus, which continues to devastate flocks in Asia
and Europe, and kill some people, has arrived in the U.S. Meanwhile,
the state will again test for bird flu this summer [2007], with an
increased focus on dead birds.
None of the 28 000 samples from ducks, geese, and other wild birds
tested at the National Wildlife Health Center last year [2006] -- or
the 102 000 samples tested at other U.S. labs -- showed evidence of
the troublesome H5N1 virus, though other strains of bird flu were
found. Nonetheless, the threat of H5N1 remains. "We have shown as
best we can that H5N1 was not in North America in 2006," said Hon Ip,
who oversees the diagnostic virology lab at the National Wildlife
Health Center. "But as long as the situation is unresolved in other
parts of the world, surveillance needs to continue."
Other samples will come this summer and fall [2007] from live birds
trapped by biologists, mostly in West Coast states but also in other
parts of the country, Ip said. Nearly 28 000 samples will be tested
again this year [2007].
The testing of last year's [2006] samples revealed 2 new findings, Ip said.
[Some bird species, such as the Glaucous gull, were found for the 1st
time to carry some kind of bird flu. In addition, samples from
several birds showed that viruses from Asia and North America mixed
in the same bird -- the kind of genetic exchange that could create a
pandemic strain. The latter was not revealed before. Mod.MHJ]
The [Wisconsin] state Department of Natural Resources will test about
1500 birds this year [2007], said Julie Langenberg, a veterinary
wildlife health specialist. Many samples will come from ducks and
geese killed by hunters, as was the case last year [2006], Langenberg
said. Some samples will again be taken from live shorebirds. But the
state hopes to test more dead birds this year [2007], because studies
suggest they are most likely to carry bird flu, she said.
Anyone who sees unusual clusters of bird deaths is asked to call the
state's Dead Bird Hotline at (800) 433-1610. "We want everybody to do
what they can to help us identify dead birds," Langenberg said.
[Byline: David Wahlberg]</pre>
