Swine flu jumps species to birds

August 22, 10:00 AMManchester Bird Watching ExaminerBrad Sylvester

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This turkey escaped swine flu quarantine in Chile. (AP Photo/ Robert Candia)

A report out of Chile by the Associated Press has announced that the A/H1N1 2009 swine flu, recently declared to be pandemic among humans, has made the jump from pigs and humans to birds. A flock of turkeys on a commercial production farm has been diagnosed with the same strain of swine flu that has doctor’s worldwide so worried about a potential 2009 fall outbreak. “ ‘What the turkeys have is the human virus — there is no mutation at all,’ Deputy Health Minister Jeannette Vega told Chile's Radio Cooperativa on Friday”, AP reported.

• Photo slideshow of Chilean turkey farm quarantine procedures

The Chilean government has ordered two Valparaiso turkey farms to be quarantined until the turkey population is determined to be non-contagious. Officials told the Associated Press that the strain did not appear to be lethal or even particularly virulent in the turkeys, but matched the swine flu in a DNA test done in Chile. Samples are being sent for an independent confirmation.

Turkey farm representative told AP that turkeys were not dying in unusual numbers, but were experiencing a reduction in egg laying production. The group that was infected is used for reproduction rather than meat production. Although the infected turkey population is not intended for human consumption, official say there would be no problem if the meat of these turkeys were to be eaten after the flu has run its course over a period of 7-10 days.

The concern with the swine flu being found in birds is that birds are highly mobile and have the potential to carry and spread the disease very widely and very quickly. The Chilean turkeys, according to AP reports, however, have been protected from contact with wildlife including local wild birds. Many North American birds are beginning their annual migration to South America and a number of species may be returning from Chile next spring. Additionally, and perhaps even more potentially serios is the possibility of swine flu which has so far proven to be easily contagious, but not unusually sever, may combine with avian flu which is highly virulent to creat a swine flu/ bird flu combination that is both highly conatgious and has a higher mortality rate. The Syndey Morning Herald, quotes Dr. Jay Butler of Atlanta's Center for Disease Control, as saying that a bird infected with both strains of the flu could allow the flu virus to combine properties of both strains into a much more serious hybrid variant.

Meanwhile, U.S. and world health experts are bracing for a renewed outbreak of the swine flu in humans this fall as people tend to gather indoors during the colder months and have a greater risk of exposure to people who may have the swine flu. Many schools are prepared with swine flu mitigation plans that were developed during the earlier outbreak last year.

Ordinary flu risk reduction measures will be effective in reducing the likelihood of being infected with the swine flu. These include frequent handwashing, avoiding physical contact with people who may be infected, avoiding confined, crowded spaces, and being aware of surfaces that you may touch in the course of your normal daily activities. Handrails for instance are touched by thousands of people and may allow the virus to spread if an infected person used the railing before you.

If you do come down with the swine flu, doctors recommend that you stay home rather than trying to tough it out and go to work or school where you will only be putting others at risk. In most people, the swine flu will pass within 7-10 days without further complication. In some people, complications may develop. If you feel you have swine flu, call you doctor’s office, describe your symptoms and particularly any difficulty in breathing, and seek their advice.

For backyard birdwatchers, or those with birdfeeders or birdbaths, a cleaning routine should be established to lower the risk of spreading disease among local or migratory songbirds, as always wash your hands thoroughly after touching birdfeeders or birdbaths. If the swine flu does become widespread among birds this fall, then birders may do well to add a periodic sanitization of their normal cleaning of birdbaths and birdfeeders.
  

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