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Avian flu tests of wild birds ‘encouraging’

Throughout the summer, experts have been sampling wild migratory birds for the highly pathogenic avian flu virus.

According to Dr. T.J. Myers with USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the results have been encouraging.

“We’ve already collected about six-thousand samples since July and all of those samples have been negative for the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza—so that’s very good news,” Myers says.

But Myers is quick to add that the absence of positive results doesn’t mean the virus isn’t still out there.

“This group of viruses has quite an ability to mutate and reassort with other influenza viruses,” he says. “So it’s really difficult to predict what it may or may not do.”

No one can afford to let up on biosecurity efforts or preparation for an outbreak this fall, Myers says. In his words, “Keep an eye out, keep doing surveillance, and be prepared.”