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Biologists prepare for bird flu's arrival in Alaska and fear its spread
Frank D. Roylance | the (Baltimore) Sun
Posted March 5, 2006
As spring approaches in the Northern Hemisphere and millions of birds begin their ancient long-distance migrations, scientific evidence is mounting that the deadly H5N1 strain of avian-flu virus is flying with them.
If so, the virus may soon wing its way into Alaska, where biologists are establishing an unprecedented surveillance network as part of an aggressive, $29 million early-warning campaign with a new focus on birds in the wild. Until now, scientists' greatest focus has been on domestic flocks.
From Alaska, scientists fear, the virus will spread into all the Americas and ultimately become a global presence, raising the odds of it mutating and touching off a new human-flu pandemic.
"I think it is more likely than not that we are going to see [H5N1] bird flu in the Western Hemisphere," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.
"Whether it takes place during this migratory season or the next is uncertain," he said. But "I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get some introduction of the virus during this season."
Scientists already suspect wild swans of carrying the H5N1 virus last month onto an island in northern Germany, where more than 100 of the birds were found dead.
The virus later killed a house cat on the same island, and Dutch scientists have evidence that cats can spread the virus to one another in the laboratory. Meanwhile, Thai scientists have found that dogs and cats there could also be carrying the bug.
All of these findings raise new questions about whether a virus hitherto spread by wild birds can now infect and spread among the mammals people live with.
snip
Frank D. Roylance | the (Baltimore) Sun
Posted March 5, 2006
As spring approaches in the Northern Hemisphere and millions of birds begin their ancient long-distance migrations, scientific evidence is mounting that the deadly H5N1 strain of avian-flu virus is flying with them.
If so, the virus may soon wing its way into Alaska, where biologists are establishing an unprecedented surveillance network as part of an aggressive, $29 million early-warning campaign with a new focus on birds in the wild. Until now, scientists' greatest focus has been on domestic flocks.
From Alaska, scientists fear, the virus will spread into all the Americas and ultimately become a global presence, raising the odds of it mutating and touching off a new human-flu pandemic.
"I think it is more likely than not that we are going to see [H5N1] bird flu in the Western Hemisphere," said Dr. William Schaffner, chairman of the department of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn.
"Whether it takes place during this migratory season or the next is uncertain," he said. But "I wouldn't be at all surprised if we get some introduction of the virus during this season."
Scientists already suspect wild swans of carrying the H5N1 virus last month onto an island in northern Germany, where more than 100 of the birds were found dead.
The virus later killed a house cat on the same island, and Dutch scientists have evidence that cats can spread the virus to one another in the laboratory. Meanwhile, Thai scientists have found that dogs and cats there could also be carrying the bug.
All of these findings raise new questions about whether a virus hitherto spread by wild birds can now infect and spread among the mammals people live with.
snip