May 19, 2006

 

US, Canada step up bird-flu monitoring in wild fowls

 

 

US and Canadian authorities are starting to monitor migratory wild fowls for possible bird flu. US scientists have begun testing migratory birds for signs of bird flu that could show up in spring. Canada launched its 2006 Wild Bird Survey for bird flu on Thursday (May 18).

 

In Alaska, the testing of shorebirds began Wednesday on an Anchorage coastal wildlife refuge, said Bruce Woods, spokesman with the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

 

It's the first sampling of a summer-long project to swab birds for bird flu throughout the state. Nationwide, the goal is to sample 75,000 to 100,000 wild birds. In Alaska, about US$4 million in federal money will be allocated to study about 15,000 birds, Woods said.

 

"We had some success in catching some of the target species," Woods said Thursday.

 

Scientists will only test birds in the Anchorage area through early next week. "In this location, it's very brief, birds go through and they're gone," he said.

 

To screen the birds for the deadly virus, the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Alaska's Fish and Game Department also are setting up more than 50 remote backcountry camps accessible mainly by float planes or boats.

 

In Canada, agencies involved in this year's Wild Bird Survey include Environment Canada, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre.

 

The survey will provide an early warning for the possible entry of highly pathogenic bird flu into Canada, a release from the CFIA said.

 

Similar to the 2005 survey, the 2006 survey will sample migratory birds along main migratory routes in Canada. But it will place a greater focus in the North Atlantic region, which hosts birds that might come into contact with birds from Europe where the Asian H5N1 strain has been found in several countries, the CFIA said.

 

Canada will coordinate its survey approach with the US to conduct extensive surveillance along the Pacific Flyway, which intersects with Asian migratory routes.