On the flu-way?
John Driscoll The Times-Standard
Agencies to monitor geese, brant for bird flu signs on Pacific flyway
As international health authorities investigate bird flu infection in Indonesia, wildlife managers on the West Coast are beginning to keep an eye on wild birds as possible couriers of the virus to the United States.
They intend to begin sampling birds in California this year, and two of the more visible visitors to Humboldt County are on the list: black brant and Aleutian cackling geese. Aleutian geese number about 100,000, and are among the birds that have direct or indirect contact with migratory birds from Asia.
A conference of scientists called to Rome by the United Nations this week agreed that wild birds will continue to move the H5N1 virus over vast distances. It's unclear if migrating wild birds are, or could become, a permanent reservoir for the virus. But if they are, they could keep moving the virus around for a long time.
Wild birds are not the main conduit of the virus -- that happens mostly through legal and illegal poultry trading. And while an enormous number of people have been exposed to the bird flu virus through poultry over 50 countries in the past decade, fewer than 500 cases have been reported and fewer than 200 people killed. By contrast, about 36,000 people die from seasonal flu in the United States each year.
That said, scientists are concerned that the virus' wide distribution could create a pandemic if it mutates into a strain that passes easily from human to human. Health officials in Indonesia are watching closely the family and friends of a woman who apparently became infected through sick chickens, and appears to have subsequently exposed her kin.
Both Aleutian geese, which nest on the windswept Aleutian Islands off Alaska, and black brant migrate along the Pacific flyway that intersects with other flyways that stretch into Asia. The birds stop over in the Humboldt Bay region to feed on pastures and eel grass.
?Alaska is seen as a potential bridge,? said Dan Yparraguirre, a senior biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game.
So as part of a national strategic plan to detect when the virus arrives in the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and state health and wildlife agencies plan to test birds as they migrate south from nesting areas. Annual marking of the birds, and tests on birds killed by hunters, are an efficient means of doing that.
The draft plan anticipates that if H5N1 does show up in North America, it will rapidly spread. If it does, the plan envisions testing waterfowl and parks and lakes in close proximity to human populations.
The California Department of Health Services is also developing a plan to deal with a possible pandemic. That plan says that experts estimate that 25 percent of Californians could become ill, and as many as 35,000 could die. The department is trying to get the message out early.
Dr. Ben Sun, the state public health veterinarian with the health services department, said people handling poultry or wild birds shot in the field can take basic hygienic measures to prevent the risk of exposure to bird flu. That includes thoroughly cooking birds, wearing rubber gloves when cleaning birds and washing one's hands after handling birds.
?I think in general people should have some concerns and pay attention ... but at this point in time the avian influenza virus is not efficiently being transmitted,? Sun said.
Local health authorities have also been planning much of which applies to any disaster, including earthquakes and floods. Dr. Ann Lindsay with the Humboldt County Health and Human Services Department said that her agency has been meeting with the medical community and hospitals, encouraging them to have plans to vaccinate against a flu, plans to isolate infected individuals and count on doing business with fewer employees.
A big push has been made to emphasize the importance of being prepared individually. Storing food and supplies and having an emergency plan are among the measures that can be taken by everyone to help during any calamity.
?Whether or not you think (bird flu) is going to happen,? Lindsay said, ?it might spur people on to do some disaster planning.?
John Driscoll covers natural resources/industry. He can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com.
John Driscoll The Times-Standard
Agencies to monitor geese, brant for bird flu signs on Pacific flyway
As international health authorities investigate bird flu infection in Indonesia, wildlife managers on the West Coast are beginning to keep an eye on wild birds as possible couriers of the virus to the United States.
They intend to begin sampling birds in California this year, and two of the more visible visitors to Humboldt County are on the list: black brant and Aleutian cackling geese. Aleutian geese number about 100,000, and are among the birds that have direct or indirect contact with migratory birds from Asia.
A conference of scientists called to Rome by the United Nations this week agreed that wild birds will continue to move the H5N1 virus over vast distances. It's unclear if migrating wild birds are, or could become, a permanent reservoir for the virus. But if they are, they could keep moving the virus around for a long time.
Wild birds are not the main conduit of the virus -- that happens mostly through legal and illegal poultry trading. And while an enormous number of people have been exposed to the bird flu virus through poultry over 50 countries in the past decade, fewer than 500 cases have been reported and fewer than 200 people killed. By contrast, about 36,000 people die from seasonal flu in the United States each year.
That said, scientists are concerned that the virus' wide distribution could create a pandemic if it mutates into a strain that passes easily from human to human. Health officials in Indonesia are watching closely the family and friends of a woman who apparently became infected through sick chickens, and appears to have subsequently exposed her kin.
Both Aleutian geese, which nest on the windswept Aleutian Islands off Alaska, and black brant migrate along the Pacific flyway that intersects with other flyways that stretch into Asia. The birds stop over in the Humboldt Bay region to feed on pastures and eel grass.
?Alaska is seen as a potential bridge,? said Dan Yparraguirre, a senior biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game.
So as part of a national strategic plan to detect when the virus arrives in the United States, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and state health and wildlife agencies plan to test birds as they migrate south from nesting areas. Annual marking of the birds, and tests on birds killed by hunters, are an efficient means of doing that.
The draft plan anticipates that if H5N1 does show up in North America, it will rapidly spread. If it does, the plan envisions testing waterfowl and parks and lakes in close proximity to human populations.
The California Department of Health Services is also developing a plan to deal with a possible pandemic. That plan says that experts estimate that 25 percent of Californians could become ill, and as many as 35,000 could die. The department is trying to get the message out early.
Dr. Ben Sun, the state public health veterinarian with the health services department, said people handling poultry or wild birds shot in the field can take basic hygienic measures to prevent the risk of exposure to bird flu. That includes thoroughly cooking birds, wearing rubber gloves when cleaning birds and washing one's hands after handling birds.
?I think in general people should have some concerns and pay attention ... but at this point in time the avian influenza virus is not efficiently being transmitted,? Sun said.
Local health authorities have also been planning much of which applies to any disaster, including earthquakes and floods. Dr. Ann Lindsay with the Humboldt County Health and Human Services Department said that her agency has been meeting with the medical community and hospitals, encouraging them to have plans to vaccinate against a flu, plans to isolate infected individuals and count on doing business with fewer employees.
A big push has been made to emphasize the importance of being prepared individually. Storing food and supplies and having an emergency plan are among the measures that can be taken by everyone to help during any calamity.
?Whether or not you think (bird flu) is going to happen,? Lindsay said, ?it might spur people on to do some disaster planning.?
John Driscoll covers natural resources/industry. He can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com.