November 1, 2005

 

Bird migration over Israel raises bird flu fears

 

 

With half a billion birds flying over Israel twice annually, the country has become a likely target for the deadly bird flu spreading in Europe and Asia, a leading Israeli ornithologist is cautioning.

 

Israel¡ªwhich has had no confirmed cases of the disease¡ªis at the crossroads of a migratory path birds take between Europe and Asia and wintering grounds in Africa, says Dr. Yossi Leshem, director of Israel's International Centre for the Study of Bird Migration.

 

Because the autumn migration originates from Europe and Asia, where dozens of cases have been confirmed since 2003, Israel needs to focus on detecting the virus in migrating birds quickly, Leshem said.

 

"This is one of the hotspots in the world," Leshem said. "We know that we have about 500 million birds that are migrating over Israel twice a year."

 

This being the case, "chances are high" that bird flu will eventually make its way to Israel, Leshem said.

 

Birds flock to places such as Israel's northern Hula Valley Nature Reserve, where 320 hectares of restored wetlands offer them food and a hospitable environment. During migratory seasons, thousands of cranes, storks and waterfowl fill the marsh.

 

The H5N1 strain of bird flu that has caused so much alarm has decimated poultry stocks and killed 62 people in Asia since 2003, and has recently spread to Europe. The strain is easily spread among birds, but is difficult for humans to contract. Scientists are worried, however, that it could mutate into a form easily transmitted among humans.

 

Israel has said it would respond to an outbreak by culling all poultry within three kilometres of a confirmed case and vaccinating birds within a 10-kilometer radius. And it has ordered medicine to try to alleviate the effects of the virus should it spread to humans.

 

While Israel tests dead birds for bird flu, the government does not test live migratory birds. Leshem said a system could be developed within a week at existing bird stations to test up to 100 birds a week, at the cost of about US$430,000 a year.

 

The infrastructure is already in place because bird stations have been working with the Israeli Air Force for three decades, using radar and satellites to watch flocks of birds in an attempt to avoid collisions with planes, he said.