U.S. network checks wild birds for flu

WASHINGTON, Nov 6, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Researchers hope a network of birdwatchers, hunters and park rangers will serve as an early detection system for avian influenza in the United States.

The New York Times reports the system is a combined project of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the National Wildlife Health Center.

Dr. William B. Karesh heads the field veterinary program at the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the Bronx Zoo. One of the first signs of West Nile virus in the United States was a die-off of crows noticed by keepers at the zoo.

"Human medicine and veterinary medicine have advanced beautifully in the last 30 years, but they were not linked," Karesh said.

Health officials worry that avian influenza, which so far has spread only to people in close contact with infected poultry, could mutate to allow human-to-human transmission. That could set off a deadly global pandemic.

Avian influenza has spread quickly across Asia to Europe, carried by migratory birds.

In the United States, birds shot by hunters on public land or caught in nets for bird-banding are being checked for flu. Birds that spend their lives in one place, like ducks around some ponds, are serving as sentinels, with regular re-testing.

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