Avian flu: Wild birds: vectors or victims? [News]

Avian flu: Wild birds: vectors or victims?
Daily Times - Pakistan
January 30, 2006

Do the wild birds that fly through cold winter skies to warmer lands silently carry deadly bird flu around the world? Or are they simply potential victims?

With the virulent H5N1 form of bird flu now killing people in Turkey, there is a growing debate about how it is spread. Many scientists believe migrating wild fowl are responsible for carrying the virus from Asia and Siberia to Romania and Turkey. And although some argue there is not enough evidence yet for firm conclusions, the theory is gaining ground. Scientists are increasingly convinced that at least some migratory waterfowl are now carrying the H5N1 virus in its highly pathogenic form, sometimes over long distances, and introducing the virus to poultry flocks in areas that lie along their migratory routes, the World Health Organisation said in its latest bird flu fact sheet last week. (Photo courtesy of Daily Times)

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