U.S. downplays H5N1 entering via bird pathways

By Christopher Doering

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - It is unlikely that a sick bird would be able to carry the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus into the United States through the Pacific and Atlantic flyways, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.

"The distance may be too long for a (sick) bird to get that far," Steve Kappes, deputy administrator at the U.S. Agriculture Department's Agricultural Research Service, told reporters at a briefing on bird flu.

A 7-year study of more than 8,200 wild bird samples in Alaska -- a key region where Asian and North American birds meet in the summer -- found all cases of bird flu that were detected originated in North America.

The findings prompted Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and other officials to conclude the risk of high pathogenic H5N1 bird flu being transported into this region "is relatively low."

Johanns' remarks came following a meeting with Jacques Diouf, director-general of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization, where they signed an agreement to increase coordination on a wide-range of farm issues, including bird flu.

Worldwide, the highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus has killed 168 people since 2003, according to the U.N.'s World Health Organization. An estimated 200 million birds have died or been culled.

Rick Kearny, a coordinator with the U.S. Department of Interior's U.S. Geological Survey, said his agency would will be increasing the amount of testing of dead birds this year.

"We do know based upon results in Europe and Asia that the first sign of highly pathogenic H5N1 is often times the observation of sick and dying wild birds so we'll be looking at those more closely," he said.

Interior also plans to expand surveillance of wild birds eastward to include monitoring in the central flyway, which runs from North Dakota south to Texas in the United States. A year ago, Interior conducted tests on live birds that entered the United States through the Pacific flyway, or on North American birds that came in contact with them.

The outbreak of the influenza began in Asia, has spread to Europe and Africa, but the strain has not been found here.

In an effort to monitor for bird flu, USDA and Interior worked with states to collect more than 100,000 wild bird samples in 2006.

The testing program detected a low-pathogenic bird flu strain in six states -- Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Montana and Pennsylvania. It is common for mild and low pathogenic strains of bird flu to appear in the United States and other countries.

U.S. officials also boosted surveillance at U.S. ports of entry, increased testing efforts with the poultry industry and surveillance at live-bird markets in 12 states, mostly in the Northeast. USDA hopes to expand the program to 30 states in 2007.

Johanns said it is unlikely that consumers who eat chicken could contract the H5N1 virus even if it was found in the United States. He said birds that are infected will die, and consumers who cook chicken at the recommended 165 degrees Fahrenheit will kill the virus.

"If there is a detection of high path H5N1 in this country it should not cause a loss of confidence in the safety of poultry," he said.