This is information on Avian Influenza and the debate on how it is spread.

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Julia N Allen
Seattle, Magnolia
DrJNA at att.net



> AVIAN INFLUENZA, POULTRY VS MIGRATORY BIRDS (35)
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>
> [1]
> From: Joe Dudley
> Date: Thu 2 Nov 2006 4:52 PM
> Source: Shanghai Daily.com [edited]
>
<http://www.shanghaidaily.com/art/2006/11/03/296062/Bird_flu_spread_tied_to_
outdated_farming.htm>
>
>
> Improper poultry raising and sales techniques -- rather than the
> flights of migratory birds -- play the most important role in the
> spread of the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, United Nations officials
> said yesterday at a conference in eastern China. Dr Vincent Martin,
> an official with the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, said the
> spread of bird flu is mainly the result of the world's rapid and
> unregulated development of animal production to meet the increased
> demand for protein. His comments came during an international
> conference in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province.
>
> Highly concentrated domestic poultry production systems, especially
> in Asia, are still using centuries-old practices that place humans
> and poultry in proximity, he said. Meanwhile, the constantly evolving
> nature of the virus has provided the ideal conditions for the
> emergence of new strains of avian influenza. Evidence indicates wild
> migratory birds play a minor role in the long-distance spread of the
> virus, Martin said, adding that the main causes of the deadly disease
> are the trade in poultry and poultry products.
>
> Marco Barbieri, executive secretary of the Convention on Migratory
> Species of the UN Environmental Program, said that despite media
> attention the spread of bird flu is not widely understood.
> Misinformation has led to wild birds bearing major blame for
> transmission of the disease, the official said. "This creates
> political pressure for ill-advised and disproportionate policies such
> as the culling or harassment of wild birds and the destruction of
> wetland habitats," Barbieri said.
>
> Other modes of transmission, such as the trade in poultry and poultry
> products, the trade in caged birds and human movements may well play
> a far more significant role in the spread of bird flu, he said. And
> in some cases, these pathways have been underestimated and do not
> receive proportionate media exposure.
>
> "We need to present an accurate and balanced view which acknowledges
> that there are a number of factors whose relative importance can
> change, depending on the area or outbreak concerned," Barbieri said.
> It is clear that trade in domestic poultry has been a crucial factor,
> even in transmitting avian influenza across continents, he said.
>
> Numerous species of wild birds, especially water fowl, have been
> proven to be susceptible to infection by H5N1, however, he pointed
> out. Close contact between wild birds and poultry can lead to
> cross-infection. The loss of wetlands around the globe has forced
> many wild birds into alternative sites such as farm ponds and paddy
> fields, bringing them into closer contact with chickens, ducks,
> geese, and other domestic fowl.
>
> --
> Joseph P. Dudley, Ph.D.
> Chief Scientist, Biosecurity and Biosurveillance
> EAI Corporation
> 4301 North Fairfax Drive, Suite 200
> <jdudley at eai.com>
> <dudleyjp at saic.com>
>
> [A similar article appears
> at: <http://news3.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-11/02/content_5283058.htm>]
>
> ******
> [2]
> Date: Thu, 2 Nov 2006 22:34:11 -0000
> From: Mary Marshall <tropical.forestry at btinternet.com>
> Source: Reuters [edited]
> <http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N02387076.htm>
>
>
> Migrating ducks, geese, and swans spread the H5N1 bird flu virus from
> Russia to Romania, Turkey and Ukraine, researchers said on Thursday.
> A careful analysis of the spread of the virus from central Asia into
> eastern Europe in the autumn of 2005 shows that wild birds,
> especially mallard ducks, were the chief spreaders of the virus. "We
> conclude that the spread of (highly pathogenic avian influenza) H5N1
> virus from Russia and Kazakhstan to the Black Sea basin is consistent
> in space and time with the hypothesis that birds in the Anatidae
> family have seeded the virus along their autumn migration routes,"
> the researchers wrote in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
>
> Anatidae include geese, ducks and swans, some of which are killed by
> H5N1, and other species of which often show no ill effects from the
> virus but which can spread it. Mallard ducks are the main suspect.
>
> Bird flu remains mainly an animal disease, but has infected 256
> people since late 2003, killing 152 of them, according to the World
> Health Organization. Experts fear the virus could mutate and spark a
> human influenza pandemic, which could kill millions. Domestic ducks
> and chickens can spread the virus to people, and the poultry trade is
> held responsible for some spread, but experts have also long believed
> that wild birds also can carry the virus over long distances.
>
> Marius Gilbert of the Free University of Brussels and colleagues used
> satellite data to figure out the start of the autumn migration, and
> plotted known seasonal migration pathways against the actual
> outbreaks of H5N1. They noted that adult birds can transmit the
> virus easily to juveniles during the molting season, when they cannot
> fly, and also noted that the virus can survive in cold standing water
> -- where many species of birds congregate while molting. "The initial
> outbreaks of (highly pathogenic) H5N1 virus in Romania, Turkey, and
> Ukraine occurred close to wetlands frequented by overwintering
> migratory waterfowl," they wrote.
>
> "These locations were clearly far from any known location where ...
> H5N1 virus had been recorded, while the timing and location match the
> autumn wildfowl migration ahead of the approaching wave of frost."
>
> The researchers said that their study "by no means excludes the role
> of the poultry trade as an important, complementary transmission pathway."
>
> Bird experts around the world are testing many different species to
> see which ones carry and transmit the virus. U.S. and Canadian
> officials say they expect highly pathogenic strains of H5N1 to
> eventually arrive in the Americas, saying it is only a matter of time.
>
> --
> ProMED-mail
> <promed at promedmail.org>
>
> [Obviously the relative importance of the various epidemiologic
> factors affecting spread and persistence of HPAI depend on which part
> of the elephant one is examining and the tools used. On an economic
> basis improper poultry raising and sales techniques are the most
> important factors, outweighing all others, and patently where control
> must be directed and is most cost-effective. Migrating birds play a
> part in the long-distance spread of the virus(es), which is also
> shared with the international movements, legal and illegal, of live
> and dead poultry. - Mod.MHJ]



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