Swans seen as carriers of bird flu virus
Swans travelling along the Pacific flyway are the most likely bearers of the deadly bird flu virus among wild migratory birds but an even bigger worry is the prospect of the virus arriving by illegal animal trade, Interior Department officials said yesterday.
“Swans are the starting point” for possibly finding the H5N1 bird flu virus, said H. Dale Hall, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s director, in an interview with The Associated Press. But, he added, “I am more concerned about the illegal smuggling.”
Patrick Leahy, the U.S. Geological Survey’s acting director, said a variation of influenza in birds, H5N2, was found last year in two of 100 birds sampled in North Dakota.
To prepare for this year, the agency sampled 1,318 nationally, including 719 in Alaska.
He said the first samples taken from migratory birds in Alaska that could be carrying the H5N1 virus will arrive for testing later this week at the USGS laboratory in Madison, Wisconsin.
Source for this avian influenza article