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What's up with the Avian Flu?  (posted 11-3-05)

 Avian influenza and the possibility of a flu pandemic is a hot topic in the media right now. Many of you are being asked questions about how this could affect ducks and duck hunting this season. The following gives you a bit of background on avian influenza, so you can address these questions. You can get a lot more science-based information from the DU Web site at  http://www.ducks.org/News/AvianFluStatement.asp

Avian influenza is common and naturally occurs in many forms in waterfowl and other wild birds. "Bird flu," as the media often calls it, is a complex of many types of "avian influenza." Most of the naturally occurring influenza viruses found in wild birds aren't transmissible to humans. However, a few specific types can be transmitted from birds to humans, such as the H5N1 avian influenza the media is reporting about now. According to the World Health Organization, about 65 humans in Asia have died of the H5N1 flu to date. This "highly pathogenic avian influenza" kills birds quickly.

All the people who have contracted this type of flu were in very close contact with domestic poultry. There are no known instances of people contracting H5N1 from contact with wild birds. And the H5N1 virus has not mutated to the point that a person could contract this type of flu from another person who is infected with it.

Here in the U.S., the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been monitoring wild waterbirds, including ducks and geese, to determine if H5N1 has reached North America via wild birds. The U.S. Department of Agriculture also monitors domestic poultry flocks across the U.S. and typically tests at least one million birds a year to ensure human safety. President Bush requested on November 1, 2005 that the U.S. Government put $32 million into efforts to monitor wild birds and waterfowl in particular. We have not seen the specifics on how this money would be used, but details will be forthcoming. As of this writing, H5N1 has not been found in any wild birds or domestic poultry in North America.

A recent press report from Canada indicated that avian influenza was discovered in 28 ducks in Quebec and five in Manitoba during monitoring of 4,800 wild birds. Canadian officials indicate that they do not suspect this is the H5N1 virus.

There is no reason why waterfowl hunters should not go on enjoying the 2005-2006 hunting season with no worry about avian influenza. If they are concerned over the possibility of avian influenza, hunters can take precautions as outlined on the DU Web site.

Another important point is that a flu pandemic, if it ever develops, will come from a virus that mutates to have the capability of spreading via human-to-human contact, not from bird-to-human contact in which the relative threat is negligible.