AlaskaDenise
In Memoriam
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060420/us_nm/birdflu_alaska_prison_dc;_ylt=A0SOwlRSQ0hEzTUBjwAWIr0F;_ylu=X3oDMTA5aHJvMDdwBHNlYwN5bmNhdA--
Thu Apr 20, 7:10 PM ET
As the United States prepares a defense against migratory birds carrying the avian flu virus, Alaska officials are recruiting a group that knows all about containment -- prison guards.
Corrections officers at Alaska's Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm, a minimum-security prison north of Anchorage, have been trained to spot signs of the H5N1 virus strain in wild birds and to test for bird flu in domesticated poultry, state officials said on Thursday.
Alaska is considered the United States' most likely point of entry for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, because it is at the crossroads of wild waterfowl and shorebird migration to and from Asia. The virus has killed 110 people since 2003.
Migratory birds often rest and feed in barley fields near the prison fed by glacial waters, said Richard Schmitz, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.
The prison guards will survey the wild flocks and send carcasses to the state environmental laboratory if they find groups of three or more dead birds, Schmitz said.
They will also sample poultry raised on prison grounds.
------------------------------------------
Interesting that they will only test if there are THREE or MORE dead birds???
Point MacKenzie (north of Anchorage, across the water) is situated between Alaska's 2 largest population centers - Anchorage and Wasilla/Palmer. This is on a major wetlands are along a flyway following the coastline to California.
Thu Apr 20, 7:10 PM ET
As the United States prepares a defense against migratory birds carrying the avian flu virus, Alaska officials are recruiting a group that knows all about containment -- prison guards.
Corrections officers at Alaska's Point MacKenzie Correctional Farm, a minimum-security prison north of Anchorage, have been trained to spot signs of the H5N1 virus strain in wild birds and to test for bird flu in domesticated poultry, state officials said on Thursday.
Alaska is considered the United States' most likely point of entry for the H5N1 strain of bird flu, because it is at the crossroads of wild waterfowl and shorebird migration to and from Asia. The virus has killed 110 people since 2003.
Migratory birds often rest and feed in barley fields near the prison fed by glacial waters, said Richard Schmitz, a spokesman for the state Department of Corrections.
The prison guards will survey the wild flocks and send carcasses to the state environmental laboratory if they find groups of three or more dead birds, Schmitz said.
They will also sample poultry raised on prison grounds.
------------------------------------------
Interesting that they will only test if there are THREE or MORE dead birds???
Point MacKenzie (north of Anchorage, across the water) is situated between Alaska's 2 largest population centers - Anchorage and Wasilla/Palmer. This is on a major wetlands are along a flyway following the coastline to California.