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Avian Flu Giving Birds a Bad Name: Conservationists

Posted on: Sunday, 9 April 2006, 11:55 CDT

By Marie-Louise Gumuchian

LAIKIPIA, Kenya -- Conservationists and artists gathered at the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Kenya on Sunday to put an end to bad publicity they say migratory birds receive as the main vectors for spreading avian flu.

From Kenyan children reciting poems on birds to Peruvian and Turkish artists portraying different stages of migration, dozens of performers descended on the lush green hills of central Kenya's Laikipia to launch World Migratory Bird Day.

Millions of birds migrating from Asia to the northern hemisphere stop over in the Great Rift Valley's freshwater ponds, dams and lakes, possible conduits for the virus.

Kenya's part of the Great Rift Valley -- a vast geographical feature that runs from northern Syria to central Mozambique -- is a haven for birds like flamingoes, pelicans and storks, but is also seen as being at great risk of bird flu.

The role of migratory fowl versus the trade in bird products in the spread of avian flu has been the source of much debate, with conservationists contending the disease's spread has not closely followed known bird migrations.

Scientists have not reached a consensus on the issue.

"Because the role of migratory birds is a very obvious one, it's often very tempting to say that migratory birds are bringing the disease," Robert Hepworth, executive secretary of the Convention on Migrating Species, told Reuters.

"Migratory birds have been involved of course, but the actual evidence of migratory birds spreading this disease across continents on a large scale is very patchy."

In Africa, the poultry trade poses a bigger risk for the spread of bird flu than migratory birds, experts say.

Bird flu has spread rapidly since late 2003 from Asia to Europe, the Middle East and Africa, killing more than 100 people worldwide since.

From the start of the year alone, more than 30 new countries have reported outbreaks, increasing panic among populations who fear migrating birds may have come in contact with the disease and brought it back to their doorstep.

"Something they look forward to seeing in the back garden is now being seen as a threat," Leon Bennum, director of science and policy at BirdLife International, said.

"There's a panic and hysteria spreading. People don't understand the role wild birds play."

Conservationists say some people have destroyed birds' nests or have wanted to cut down trees in for fear infected migratory fowl would perch in their gardens.

"For people in Europe to be destroying swallows' nests as a response to this disease is a disproportionate, unjustified over-reaction," Hepworth said.

World Migratory Day was celebrated in 40 countries on Sunday with bird walks and small festivals. The event in Laikipia precedes a U.N. Environmental Program bird flu seminar in Nairobi this week.

"This is a symbolic occasion which is going to declare to the world that the migratory birds do matter and that we do something in protecting them," Italian author and conservationist Kuki Gallmann said.

Source: REUTERS

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