Scientists Fight Back Against H5N1 Avian Flu

Indiana’s Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman agrees, saying she wants Hoosiers to know that the state has a coordinated plan of action to respond to both avian influenza and a human influenza pandemic. “While state government is ahead of the curve, every Indiana resident and business should also have an action plan,” she says. “Through the partnerships that have formed as we have prepared the state, we have collected and made available important information that every Hoosier can use.”

State agencies have joined together to create a Web site, www.fluinfo.in.gov, which serves as a clearinghouse of timely and accurate information for Indiana residents and other visitors to the site.

“This new Web site is an excellent example of how a number of state agencies are working together to prepare for these possible health threats,” says Cliff Wojtalewicz, Indiana Department of Homeland Security planning division director. “Each agency has an important role to play, and this site will explain those roles and provide Hoosiers with easy access to other important information.”

Avian influenza might not cause a human influenza pandemic, but preparedness is a must, says Judith A. Monroe, M.D., Indiana’s health commissioner. “We are working closely with our state agency partners to prepare for avian influenza in Indiana, in case it should become a threat to human health,” she adds.

The Hoosier’s State Veterinarian Bret Marsh cautions, however, that a diagnosed case of avian influenza in Indiana or the United States would not signal the start of a human influenza pandemic. “It would prompt us to increase further our ongoing monitoring of wild and domestic birds statewide,” he adds. “A strong partnership between the Board of Animal Health and Indiana’s poultry industry has helped us nearly double the testing of flocks.

We also need to point out that poultry production in the United States is very different from other parts of the world, and avian influenza presents little risk to America’s poultry and egg supply.”

Wayne Bivans, chief of Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources, says there is presently no evidence indicating that this virus is present in the North American wild bird population. “However, the DNR is working pro-actively with the USDA Wildlife Services to monitor migratory wild birds,” he says.

Gov. John E. Baldacci of Maine has also started a Web site at maineflu.gov. “This one Web site will provide information on pandemic influenza, avian flu or bird flu,” he says. “This means that no matter what your questions or concerns are about flu, or whether you are a physician, parent or pandemic preparedness planner, this one Web site will provide a place for getting that information.”

The site is a private public partnership between five Maine state agencies and over 20 diverse private sector organizations and associations, including the American Lung Association of Maine, the Sportsmen Alliance of Maine, the Maine Medical Association, the Maine Hospital Association, the Audubon Society, the Maine Business Chambers and the Maine Farm Bureau.

“People are concerned about it,” says Baldacci. “They have a lot of questions and this is a start to providing some of the answers.”

Anti-Avian Arsenal

St. Jude’s Dr. Webster also suggests to look carefully into the trading of poultry, both live and frozen, and compare trade maps with the geography of the virus. Many poultry experts have already done so, turning to Google Earth and a sophisticated computer imaging to help them prepare for the arrival of AI later this year.

Sherill Davison, professor of avian medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, told Reuters that geographic information system technology is being used to pinpoint the location of commercial poultry flocks, feed mills and processing plants. The information is used to create buffer zones around an infected flock to contain the H5N1 virus.