Why Are Swans Dropping Like Flies? [News]

Why Are Swans Dropping Like Flies?
Slate
2006 March 8
Daniel Engber
Photo courtesy of Slate

Avian influenza fells the big birds first.

Avian influenza continued its advance across Europe this week: On Monday, health officials in Poland reported evidence of the virus in a pair of dead swans. On Tuesday the Bulgarian government pledged to sanitize the area where four infected swans had been discovered. The highly pathogenic H5N1 strain has also turned up in dead swans in Austria, Bosnia, Croatia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Italy, Serbia, and Slovenia. Why do we keep finding bird flu in swans?

They seem to be susceptible to the disease, and it's easy to notice when they die. Scientists don't think swans are being infected at a higher rate than other waterfowl. In fact, migratory ducks are considered somewhat more likely than other birds to carry the disease. But ducks are also less likely than swans to exhibit symptoms of the flu.

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