US to monitor wild birds for H5N1 in lower 48

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. surveillance efforts to monitor
wild birds for the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus will be
expanded to include the lower 48 states, Hawaii and other
Pacific islands, the U.S. government said on Wednesday.

The U.S. departments of Agriculture and Interior are
working with the states to collect between 75,000 and 100,000
wild bird samples in addition to more than 50,000 environmental
tests throughout the United States.

An estimated 10,000 wild bird samples already have been
collected in Alaska because of its close proximity to the
Pacific Flyway to Asia.

The locations of the bird samplings in each state depend on
the weather and habitat at the time of bird migration. Samples
could be taken at national and state wildlife refuges, parks
and private lands.

USDA said it is in the process of completing agreements
with all 50 states that will dole out $4 million to state
agencies to sample specific species of migratory birds at
appropriate sites. The Interior’s Fish and Wildlife Service has
given seven states and other groups $1.9 million to implement
monitoring strategies in each state’s surveillance plan.

“These coordinated federal and state testing programs will
be important this fall as birds now nesting in Alaska and
Canada begin their migration south through the continental
United States,” said Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne.

Congress approved a request by the Bush administration late
last year that gave the departments of Agriculture and Interior
$29 million in supplemental funding in 2006 to implement the
wild bird monitoring plan.

The latest bird flu strain is known to have killed 138
people and forced hundreds of millions of birds worldwide to be
destroyed.

H5N1 has remained largely an infection of birds as it has
spread through Asia, Europe and Africa. This strain has not
been found in the United States so far.

Some experts believe the H5N1 virus could mutate so that it
could spread easily from person to person, potentially killing
millions of people.