Bird Flu

[TV BOY]

I'm surprised no one has posted this topic yet!

Any fellow waterfowlers out there concerned about exposure to the virus from infected ducks/geese? I know that ducks are the main host for flu viruses, but this strain has a kill rate >50% if you get infected from a sick bird.

I try not to get caught up in the media hype. (Which is about a possible mutated version of the virus.) I'm concerned about retrieving and cleaning possible infected birds.

Will there be fewer hunters in the swamps this fall?.... I'm not sure. By next year there may be a different feeling.

Hunt safe, and as excited as you may get over that nice drake, don't french-kiss your kill

[fishermann222]

TV boy those of us who live in western alaska have been out hunting spring birds without thinking twice. The fish and wildlife agents are collecting samples though. It is big news out here because we have a spring season on ducks and geese and some of our birds migrate to and from asia. I got an email from fish and wildlife today about the show that was on tonight I will cut and paste it to this post at the end.

The main things fish and wildlife is having us do is be careful when cleaning birds, washing everything, not touching mouth with anything that may have contact with bird feces, and we have been told to cook our birds all the way.

I will take some photos of the posters USFW has put up in the villages here and post it tomorrow.

THis is an email I recieved from US fish and wildlife

Avian Flu issue.

Memorandum

To: All Department of the Interior Employees

From: Tom Weimer, Assistant Secretary,

Policy, Management and Budget

Subject: ABC Movie on Bird Flu Pandemic

As many of you are aware, ABC will broadcast a made-for-TV movie tonight, May 9 (8-10 pm EST) called “Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America.” This fictionalized account portrays an outbreak of the H5N1 avian flu virus from its origins in a Hong Kong market through its mutation into a pandemic virus that becomes transmittable from human to human and spreads rapidly around the world.

This broadcast may lead to an increase in public and news media calls concerning the Federal Government’s avian influenza preparedness and response efforts. As public concern about avian influenza increases, it is important to separate fact from fiction.

To help clarify any misconceptions about avian influenza that may arise from this movie, DOI and its federal and state partners have prepared public service informational materials, some of which will be distributed to media before and after May 9, while others will be posted to federal websites.

Also, ABC News has decided to do a three-part news series for its affiliated stations in conjunction with the movie. The three public service programs will be available to all ABC affiliated stations across the Nation to run on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday's late afternoon/evening news programs (5 to 11 p.m.). The Monday program will discuss how high pathogenicity avian influenza travels; Tuesday will be “The Movie: Fact or Fiction”; and Wednesday will be about avian influenza vaccines.

There are several key facts that Interior employees and the public should keep in mind about this movie. It is not a documentary. It is a work of fiction designed to entertain and not a factual accounting of a real world event.

There is no influenza pandemic in the world at this time. The most recent Asian strain of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus is almost exclusiv ely a disease of birds and even in birds, has not yet appeared in North or South America.

The risk of high path H5N1 transmission from wild birds to humans is extremely low. That said, the potential for migratory birds to carry this virus to North America does exist and we have a responsibility to plan and prepare accordingly. The Department and its bureaus (particularly USGS, FWS and NPS) have been closely involved in the government-wide effort to plan for and respond to a pandemic, including the Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza, which was released last week.

Should this virus appear in the United States, it does not mean the start of a pandemic. Moreover, the next influenza pandemic could be less severe than what the movie depicts or that occurred in 1918. For example, the influenza pandemics of 1957/58 and 1968/69 caused so much less illness and death than did the 1918/19 pandemic that many Americans at that time did not distinguish them from seasonal influenza and were unaware that a pandemic was underway.

While the movie does serve to raise awareness about avian and pandemic flu, we hope it should inspire preparation – not panic. It is important for all Americans to be informed about this potential public health threat and we advise looking carefully at the recommended steps individual Americans can take to protect themselves, their families and communities in the event of a pandemic.

You can practice good public health measures like frequent hand washing and staying home when sick. You can keep a supply of food and medicines on hand in case you have to stay home, a wise precaution for any type of emergency. There is good information available onhttp://www.pandemicflu.gov and on the DOI web site at [ http://www.doi.gov/issues/avianflu.html ]http://www.doi.gov/issues/avianflu.html.

Additional information on avian influenza, employee health, wild bird monitoring and management, safety guidelines for hunters and wildlife watchers and other information for DOI employees, State wildlife agencies and the public are online at the sites listed below.

Federal Government-wide Avian Influenza Information: http://www.pandemicflu.gov

Department of the Interior-wide Avian Influenza Information: http://www.doi.gov/issues/avianflu.html.

U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center Avian Influenza: http://www.nwhc.usgs.gov/disease_information/avian_influenza/index.jsp

Homeland Security Council's National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza: http://www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/nspi.pdf

Implementation Plan for the National Strategy for Pandemic Influenza: http://www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/pandemicflu/

Interagency Strategic Plan: http://www.doi.gov/issues/birdflu_strategicplan.pdf

U.S. Department of Agriculture: http://www.usda.gov/birdflu

[gorrilla]

hey guys here's an obvious, but possibly overlooked question: Are our dogs more likely or able to contract the bird flu?????

[Flick]

Fisherman- You guys get a spring season on ducks too?

[TV BOY]

I didn't even think of the dogs! I heard of a cat that caught it from eating a dead bird.

[fishermann222]

yes, residents of bush alaska can shoot spring birds under federal subsistance laws. Ducks and geese play a large part of feeding the residents of bush alaska, as the cost to fly goods in is incredibly expensive. The eskimos shoot all ducks and geese. Most of the white guys that live in bush alaska shoot just the drakes in the spring. They have the most incredible color, but are not legal for taxidermy. They must be fully consumed in order for it to be legal to shoot them. Nothing goes to waste, even the guts and wings are turned into trapping bait.

[lanyard]

A couple things from my view point:

1) where the folks are dieing > 50% I wouldn't rank them as high on the health care

2) I'm supposed to be dead from West Nile already, so I've beaten the odds. If this gets me, I've won already.

3) If I get ill/die from having hunted and eaten my quarry then I guess the circle of life applies to me as well

4) 50 deaths world wide from this? Not sure, but I figure with a world wide population of 4 billion and 50 deaths, the power ball as a retirement plan seems to be in my favor

5) I might now consider getting a flu shot

I don't intend to sound flippant, but this stuff gets tiresome: SARS, West Nile, Killer Bees- they all exist, they can all kill you, but I'm still more worried about the other guy with a gun than this.

How's your deer hunting, beef eating, etc. been affected?

[kc0myy]

Lanyard I am with you 110%. I think the media is just blowing this up TOO MUCH. I thought we were going to be all dead already from anthraxs (sp). Right know I am more scard of the mederior (sp) coming for space and killing me.

[Flick]

Fisherman- Thats cool I did not know that

[fishermann222]

Flick the birds are back but we are between breakup and open water and snowmobiling is no longer safe. After we break up and I make it out I will post a few photos of some of the birds we shoot. Usually blue bills, pintails, mallards, widgeon, and tundra swans.

Here are a few photos from last years subsistance gathering

[ironman]

Now that's what I call a mixed bag.

signed, Jealous in MN