U.S. EXPANDS AI MONITORING

UNITED STATES: USDA will begin testing wild birds in the lower 48 states for signs of the deadly virus.
Last fall, the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza spread out of Asia. By the end of winter, health officials detected the virus in birds in the Middle East, Russia, Western Europe, and Africa. Influenza experts believe that wild birds, particularly waterfowl, carried the virus.
Now, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) fears that the highly-pathogenic strain of avian influenza will spread to the United States during the fall bird migration. To prevent an epidemic such as the one that devastated the poultry industries in several countries in Asia--namely Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and China---USDA and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) along with state governments have expanded the avian influenza-monitoring program to test wild birds in all 50 states. Last year, USDA launched a wild bird monitoring program in Alaska. Officials feared that avian influenza-infected wild duck, geese, and other waterfowl would migrate from Asia through Alaska to the United States.
USDA Secretary Mike Johanns and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne announced that their respective departments are expanding wild bird monitoring for the highly-pathogenic H5N1 strain of the avian influenza virus beyond Alaska through cooperative agreements and projects made with the lower 48 states, Hawaii, and other Pacific islands.
“We are working on several fronts to combat highly-pathogenic avian influenza around the world and here at home,” Johanns explained. “Because we cannot control wild birds, our best protection is an early warning system, and this move to test thousands more wild birds throughout the country will help us to quickly identify, respond to, and control the virus, if it arrives in the United States.”
Kempthorne emphasized that a robust monitoring effort helps to ensure early detection should migratory birds carry this virus to North America.
“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,” he said.
As part of the “An Early Detection System for H5N1 Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Wild Migratory Birds -- U.S. Interagency Strategic Plan,” USDA has completed cooperative agreements with 48 states thus far and is finalizing agreements with two other states, which cover all 50 states in the four major U.S. migratory bird flyways, according to a USDA news release. These agreements provide nearly $4 million for state agencies to sample specific species of migratory birds at appropriate sites under plans coordinated through the four national flyway councils.
The five monitoring strategies were developed cooperatively among USDA, DOI, and the states to ensure that priority wild bird species are sampled comprehensively throughout the southern Pacific Flyway and Pacific Islands. Together with Alaska, these are the priority areas identified by the national strategy because birds migrating from Asia intermingle with those that nest or over-winter primarily in these locations.
USDA and DOI are teaming up with states to collect 75,000 to 100,000 wild bird samples along with 50,000 environmental samples throughout the United States, including Alaska, the lower 48 states, Hawaii, Guam, U.S. Pacific territories, and freely-associated states.
The Alaska testing program, which is carried out by USDA, DOI, the State of Alaska and the University of Alaska, has been underway for several months and has tested nearly 10,000 wild birds. So far, the avian influenza virus has not been detected in any of the birds.
Specific wild bird sampling locations in each state will depend on the weather and habitat conditions at the time of bird migration. State wildlife agencies, working through interagency groups, will determine the locations of the sampling sites as migration occurs and areas are identified where large groups of migratory birds are congregating. Sampling areas will include public lands, such as, national and state wildlife refuges, national, and state parks, private lands with landowner permission, and urban/suburban areas, such as ponds and city parks.
The national wild bird monitoring plan is part of President George W. Bush’s National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza. Bush allocated $29 million in his fiscal year 2006 avian influenza supplemental funding package for implementation of the wild bird monitoring plan. This funding was allocated to USDA and DOI.
Web posted: August 10, 2006Category: Food Safety,Legislation and Regulation,ResearchIn Europe:Chris Harris, Editor orIn North America: Bryan Salvage, Editorial Director