Bird flu by this spring...?

[Guest guest]

Bird flu expected in U.S. this spring

Alaska on alert as migratory season begins

Kerry Fehr-Snyder and Mike Cronin

The Arizona Republic

Mar. 10, 2006 12:00 AM

After spreading from Asia to Europe, a lethal flu

virus that infects birds is poised to enter the United

States possibly within the next few months, federal

officials said Thursday.

It is the first public warning that attaches a

timetable to the U.S. arrival of the bird-flu virus,

which has killed at least 95 people since 2003, mostly

in Asia, and has wreaked havoc on poultry flocks.

The migration of infected birds to the United States

has been expected, and health officials said there is

no reason for any panic.

Homeland Security Secretary Chertoff said

Thursday that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has

dealt successfully with other strains of bird flu in

past years.

But the arrival of the virus in ducks, chickens and

other birds would intensify warnings about handling

birds and watching for signs of the disease.

Scientists fear the H5N1 flu virus could mutate and

become easily transmissible among people, triggering a

pandemic.

In the past two weeks, the Arizona Department of

Agriculture began rolling out a public-awareness

campaign aimed at 1,600 backyard bird owners in the

state.

The owners will be put on an e-mail list for avian flu

alerts, and livestock officers are giving them

pamphlets explaining what to look for in sick birds.

Chicken farms, such as Hickman's Egg Ranch in

Arlington and Maricopa, continue to bar visitors and

require employees to don protective clothing. An

outbreak could devastate the industry, leading to the

slaughtering of birds, as it has overseas.

" Right now, we have to be concerned about our

employees. We have to make sure they're safe. They are

the most at risk, " said Clint Hickman, co-owner of the

ranch, which began to flu-proof its operation in 2004.

He plans a meeting with them soon on avian flu.

Monitoring migration

In Alaska, where scientists believe the first infected

birds could arrive from Asia next month on migration,

monitoring efforts are being stepped up dramatically.

Scientists will inspect live birds and those found

dead or killed by hunters, federal officials said. The

testing there and in other sites, including some

Pacific islands, will target as many as 100,000

waterfowl and shorebirds.

Arizona officials said the infected birds are unlikely

to show up here first, but they can't be sure.

" You cannot give a bird a passport, " said

Decker, spokeswoman for the state Agriculture

Department. " They don't recognize borders. "

Neither do bird smugglers, who could also unwittingly

introduce the virus to the country.

It is illegal to bring in any bird, and authorities

are increasing inspections to stop illegal importation

of birds, said beth Lawaczeck, public health

veterinarian with the Arizona Department of Health

Services.

If birds infected with the flu virus are discovered in

North America, public unrest will grow.

Agencies are likely to receive calls from citizens

about dead birds, and some parrot or exotic-bird

owners may overreact and abandon or give up their

pets, as has happened in England.

In France, sales of poultry products have dropped more

than 30 percent, according to Inter Press Service.

Cautioning against panic

Lawaczeck cautioned against panic and to take steps,

such as avoiding eating improperly cooked chicken and

duck.

" For a short period of time, people are going to get

nervous (about eating chicken), " Lawaczeck said. But

they can eliminate the risk if they cook chicken to

the recommended 180 degrees.

In Asia, cultures live more closely with chickens,

pigs and other animals, allowing bird flu to easily

pass from pets to people, Lawaczeck said.

The disease is spread to them through saliva, blood

and excrement of infected creatures. Some victims

drank raw duck blood soup and other improperly cooked

poultry.

But evidence is growing that some mammals are falling

prey to the H5N1 virus. Last week, a cat in Germany

contracted the virus, sowing concern over the risk to

domestic pets. A mink in Germany also died of it, and

in Taiwan, a tiger and two leopards contracted the

virus.

At the Phoenix Zoo, the staff quarantines every new

animal for 30 days, performing blood tests and other

exams. The zoo bans animals from countries that have

had bird-flu outbreaks.

It also has biosecurity plans that would move zoo

birds into a holding area if an infected local bird

was discovered on the premises.

" We are taking all precautions, " said Dr. Janis

Joslin, director of animal health at the zoo. " We have

a collection of very, very valuable birds. "

Dr. Greene, an infectious-disease specialist

at Tisch Hospital/NYU Medical Center, said the focus

on migratory birds with the virus strain is misguided.

" Focusing on the bird population is the wrong

question, " said Greene, who recently co-authored a

book titled The Bird Flu Pandemic. It doesn't matter

where infected birds are as much as where humans with

the virus are and whether they spread the disease

easily to others, he said.

To become more transmissible, the virus likely would

need to infect an intermediate host, such as a pig or

other mammal, in which the virus mutated into a highly

lethal and transmissible strain. " We're at least one

or two steps away from a human pandemic, " Greene said.

http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0310birdflu0310.html

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[Guest guest]

So, bird flu is infecting cats and tigers and lions and civets and

stone martins and pigs, and I am not sure what else.

But has it mastered passing, for example, from pig to pig and so on?