Are migratory birds being monitored for HPAI H5N1 in the U.S.?
Since the 1990s, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has routinely tested for HPAI in birds migrating from Asia to Alaska. More than 12,000 birds have been tested, plus another 4,000 on the eastern part of the continent. All birds tested negative. Recently, several government agencies announced a plan for stepped-up monitoring for HPAI H5N1 in migratory birds. For 2006, the plan calls for collecting between 75,000 to 100,000 samples from live and dead wild birds, and 50,000 samples of water or feces from high-risk waterfowl habitats across the United States. Beginning this year, the Rouge River Bird Observatory will be a participant in one of these monitoring programs for avian influenza as part of its on-going bird banding project. Coordinated through the Landbird Migration Monitoring Network of the Americas (LaMMNA), the goal is to learn more about the identity, frequency, and geographic distribution of virus sub-types (there are 144 , and each may have different strains) carried by l
