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Sent: Monday, February 27, 2006 9:35 PM
Subject: [farmtalking] Wild birds not to blame for avian flu: experts

Date: 26 Feb 2006
From: ProMED-mail <...>
Source: The Himalayan Times Online, 25 Feb 2006 [edited]
<http://www.thehimalayantimes.com/fullstory.asp?filename=6a4Ra5sa.9amal&folder=aHaoamW&Name=Home&dtSiteDate=20060225>

Wild birds not to blame for avian flu: experts

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Avian conservationists and related organizations have stated that the
logic that migratory birds are the main cause of avian influenza is
hollow. "The current avian flu crisis is exclusively blamed on migratory
birds. These may not be the sole carrier of the disease in all cases. We
believe that
unrestricted movement of poultry could be a major factor in the spread of
this disease in countries where monitoring is weak," said Dr Hem Sagar
Baral, ornithologist and chief executive of Bird Conservation Nepal (BCN).

In a press statement, Dr Baral demanded an investigation into the issue.
"In [the] face of lack of scientific evidence that avian flu is spread by
migratory birds, there is a grave danger that people will take such
statements negatively against wild birds. A thorough investigation into
this is needed.

"By continuing to focus only on bird migrations, other mechanisms and
paths for contamination are being overlooked, and effective protection
measures are being ignored. Just because wild migratory birds were found
to be infected, they were labeled the authors of the crime. However, as in
any normal investigation, all clues should be considered and all evidence
collected," said a joint statement issued by the United Nations
Environment
Program (UNEP) and Royal Society for Protection of Birds (RSPB).

"In the case of migratory birds carrying the virus, it would have been
noticed much earlier. Why such a hiatus if an infected bird normally
releases the virus within a couple of weeks of infection?" queried Dr Taej
Mundkur, an ornithologist from Wetlands International, in the same
statement.

Also, there seems to be little correlation between the predominantly
north-south orientation of flyways and the southeast to northwest path by
which the virus has spread from South ast Asia to Eastern Europe,
according to the statement. "Why are certain countries on migratory routes
not vulnerable while others outside these corridors are being affected? In
what other ways can the virus be spread," Dr. Mundkur asked.
"There is also a need to understand which species are carriers, and which
ones don't contract the virus. Also, amongst those subject to infection,
it is important to differentiate between those that do not survive, and
have, therefore, a limited capability to spread the virus, and the
asymptomatic carriers whose role in the transmission of the virus needs to
be further
explored," read the statement.
"The proximity of migratory birds to poultry is the outcome of incorrect
planning and faulty development, which have caused the sharing of
important habitats for migratory birds -- like wetlands -- between
wildlife and farms, with the obvious consequences that we are now
experiencing," the statement quoted Robert Hepworth, executive secretary
to the Convention on
Migratory Species (CMS).
Bird Conservation Nepal asked the government to follow the best veterinary
advice concerning issues such as confinement of free-ranging flocks and
vaccination, to continue with thorough surveillance of wild birds
throughout the year, to collect as much information as possible on any
confirmed incidents, to provide sound and reliable public information,
especially concerning the risks (which remain extremely small) of people
catching bird flu from activities such as bird watching, and to continue
to oppose calls to cull wild birds, or destroy wetlands

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