Avian flu prevention should focus on farms, markets

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>Avian flu prevention should focus on farms, markets - Wildlife

>Conservation Society

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Avian flu prevention should focus on farms, markets - Wildlife

Conservation Society

14 Aug 2005

 

Wildlife health experts from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife

Conservation Society (WCS) warn that efforts to control the spread of

avian flu across Asia and beyond must focus on better management

practices on farms and in markets.

 

WCS is currently working with Mongolian agencies on the ground in

Mongolia's Kovsgol province, collecting samples from wild birds that

have recently contracted the virus.

 

" We're working with our Mongolian and international partners to

confirm and track the movements of Avian flu in the region, " said Dr.

Billy Karesh, head of the WCS team currently in Mongolia. " The best

hope for successfully containing the spread of avian flu is focusing

our limited resources on the hubs where humans, livestock and

wildlife come into close contact. "

 

According to WCS, avian influenza prevention activities should

include better management practices in farms, especially small

open-air farms where domestic poultry and waterfowl are allowed to

intermingle with wild birds. Wildlife markets--where wild and

domesticated species are kept in close proximity--are also hubs of

transmission for avian flu and other pathogens that need to be better

regulated. Wildlife and health experts also maintain that

indiscriminate culling of wild migratory bird populations would be

ineffective in preventing the spread of the disease.

 

The outbreak of avian influenza in Mongolia has coincided with

confirmations of cases in Russia and Kazakhstan. The initial reports

of avian influenza came from the Mongolian Ministry of Food and

Agriculture, which conducted preliminary testing of birds that died

at Erkhel Lake in the Kovsgol province near the Russian border.

 

A joint WCS-Mongolia team that was working in western Mongolia

immediately went to the site to collect more samples that will be

sent to the United States Department of Agriculture for further

testing to determine the strain. These tests will determine if the

virus is the H5N1 strain that has killed over 50 people in Southeast

Asia and more than 5000 wild birds in western China.

 

The team, in an unprecedented, international multidisciplinary

effort, includes members of WCS, the Mongolian National Academy of

Sciences, the Mongolian Institute of Veterinary Medicine, the State

Central Veterinary Laboratory, Ministry of Food and Agriculture

Veterinary Department, and the Ministry of Health Mongolian Center of

Communicable Diseases with Natural Foci.

 

" The Mongolian governmental agencies working on this are to be

commended for keeping the international community informed on this

important health issue, " said Dr. Robert Cook, WCS Chief

Veterinarian. " This is the type of collaborative 'One World, One

Health' effort that is vital in keeping potential epidemics

contained. "

 

In light of the recent outbreaks of avian flu in other regions, WCS

proposed and with the United Nations Food and Agriculture

Organization funded an expedition to Mongolia to examine the role of

wild birds in the spread of avian influenza.

 

Previously, outbreaks in wild birds have either been in close

proximity to infected domestic poultry and waterfowl, or in regions

where contact with domestic poultry could not be excluded. As

Mongolia has few domestic poultry, finding the H5N1 virus in wild

migratory birds here would indicate that wild birds can become

infected and move highly pathogenic avian influenza long distances.

" Wild birds are sick and dying, so they may be the victims rather

than the vectors of the disease. Laboratory testing from surviving

birds will tell us if they are able to carry the virus during the

migration " explained Dr. Karesh. This information will allow

countries in the region to protect human and domestic animal health

by limiting contact with wild birds and increasing surveillance for

the virus on poultry farms.

 

John Delaney

jdelaney

718-220-3275

Wildlife Conservation Society

http://www.wcs.org

 

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