Oregon to Test Birds as Part of Nationwide Avian Influenza Detection Effort
Salem-News.com
20 June 06
State and federal wildlife biologists will be testing wild birds in Oregon this summer and fall as part of a nationwide effort aimed at the early detection of HPAI H5N1 “bird flu” virus in North America .
Sampling will focus on several species of migratory shorebirds and waterfowl that are most likely to have interacted with birds from Asia, where the disease has been established, while in the Arctic this summer. Oregon and other states cooperating in the national effort will test a statistically significant number of live birds, hunter-harvested birds, and fecal matter.
Wildlife veterinarians and biologists will also be closely monitoring bird die-offs. Die-offs are very common from spring to fall each year as birds stage on wintering and breeding grounds or migrate through Oregon . Unusual or large wild bird die-offs will be tested for HPAI H5N1.
Wildlife biologists and veterinary staff from ODFW , U.S. Department of Agriculture-Wildlife Services, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and U.S. Geological Survey are managing the sampling effort. The Pacific Flyway Council, a multi-agency group composed of state and federal wildlife regulators who coordinate game bird management along the Pacific Flyway migratory bird route in the western United States, helped create the plan.
Tumpline Stackyard
20 June 06
Photo courtsey of stackyard.com
Dairy farmer Ian Bulman has taken a proactive approach to disease control since an outbreak of BVD in his herd 10 years ago, carrying out an animal health testing and vaccination programme at Bank House, Armathwaite, near Carlisle in consultation with his vet.The Bankhouse Holstein herd, which was closed from the mid 1960s until the foot and mouth epidemic in 2001, is one of the first to be tested for Johnes disease through a simple bulk milk sample by Carlisle vet Graham Brooks’ Coomara practice – thankfully the test proved negative.
“After losing our cattle to foot and mouth we re-stocked in 2002 with a herd from Scotland which was closed and we have continued that policy since, using AI through Genus to breed our own replacements,” said Ian Bulman.
“The outbreak of BVD took us completely by surprise as we thought with having a closed herd we would have a lower disease risk. Now we test for anything that’s possible to test for - BVD, IBR, Leptospirosis, and now Johnes disease - on a regular basis or when Graham advises it is appropriate,” said Ian Bulman, a former NFU county milk committee chairman
“I believe that if we have healthy stock we have profitable stock. It also has important implications for us when we sell dairy cattle.”
HK Fights Poultry Smuggling to Keep out Bird Flu
Reuters.com
18 June 06
HONG KONG (Reuters) - Authorities in Hong Kong stepped up customs checks at the weekend to stamp out poultry smuggling after a truck driver was found infected by the H5N1 bird flu virus across the border in mainland China.
More officers were deployed at Hong Kong's four land border checkpoints and the territory beefed up examination of suspicious cargoes and baggage at sea and air boundaries. "We confiscated three fresh chickens and three fresh ducks by Saturday night at Lowu," a government spokeswoman said on Sunday.
"Five people tried to bring them in, four of them were mainland Chinese and one a Hong Kong resident." The new effort, codenamed "Operation Parrot", began on Saturday. Lowu is one of the heaviest land border crossings in the world, handling up to 17,000 people an hour during peak periods.
The spokeswoman did not know if the five people had been charged. It is an offence to bring any meat or poultry into Hong Kong without an official certificate and offenders face a maximum penalty of HK$50,000 ($6,400) and six months' jail.
Hong Kong suspended imports of live poultry from mainland China on Friday after the truck driver was confirmed to be infected with the H5N1 virus.
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