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Cross-border bird flu project to be launched
Cross-border bird flu project to be launched on Lake Constance
The Associated Press
Published: September 6, 2006
VIENNA, Austria Austria, Germany and Switzerland are working on a cross-border project to test live birds for the H5N1 bird flu strain on Lake Constance, an official said Wednesday.
The project, which is still in the planning phase, will how prevalent the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is in wild birds ? and how it is transmitted, said Erik Schmid, the top veterinarian in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg.
"Right now, we've only got data for dead birds," said Erik Schmid. "It would be dangerous if a latent form of the virus was present in healthy wild birds."
The first phase of the project, to begin in October, will involve testing samples taken from live swans and ducks on Lake Constance, which also borders Germany and Switzerland, Schmid said.
If the virus is found, a group of tame "test" ducks would be brought into controlled contact with the wild birds in an attempt to see how the virus is transmitted, Schmid said.
Since October 2005, 291 dead wild birds were found dead in Vorarlberg, six of which tested positive for H5N1, Schmid said.
Schmid said health officials in Germany and Switzerland would carry out the project along their respective banks of the lake. A meeting to discuss initial results was scheduled for Oct. 18, he said.
The Associated Press
Published: September 6, 2006
VIENNA, Austria Austria, Germany and Switzerland are working on a cross-border project to test live birds for the H5N1 bird flu strain on Lake Constance, an official said Wednesday.
The project, which is still in the planning phase, will how prevalent the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu is in wild birds ? and how it is transmitted, said Erik Schmid, the top veterinarian in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg.
"Right now, we've only got data for dead birds," said Erik Schmid. "It would be dangerous if a latent form of the virus was present in healthy wild birds."
The first phase of the project, to begin in October, will involve testing samples taken from live swans and ducks on Lake Constance, which also borders Germany and Switzerland, Schmid said.
If the virus is found, a group of tame "test" ducks would be brought into controlled contact with the wild birds in an attempt to see how the virus is transmitted, Schmid said.
Since October 2005, 291 dead wild birds were found dead in Vorarlberg, six of which tested positive for H5N1, Schmid said.
Schmid said health officials in Germany and Switzerland would carry out the project along their respective banks of the lake. A meeting to discuss initial results was scheduled for Oct. 18, he said.
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