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US to monitor wild birds for H5N1 in lower 48

Posted on: Wednesday, 9 August 2006, 16:10 CDT

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.

Source: REUTERS

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