GPS Deployed in War Against Bird Flu

Oct. 3, 2006 — As wild birds ready to take to the skies for their winter migration, birds from space will be monitoring their movements in order to help scientists fight the spread of H5N1 — the deadly strain of avian flu virus.

By using GPS navigation technology, international teams of scientists plan to follow the movements of migrating birds to better understand the extent of their role in transmitting the virus. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launched the plan following a conference in Rome in May, where experts convened to address the problem.

"We believe that at some levels, wild birds may be contributing to the spread of avian influenza across borders and even across continents in some cases," said Scott Newman, spokesperson for the Wildlife Conservation Society.

In early August, Newman trolled the lakes of northeastern Mongolia by canoe, tracking whooper swans. He fitted 10 of the birds, which can reach a length of 5 feet and weigh up to 26 pounds, with solar-powered GPS tracking devices.

The tiny transmitters, each weighing less than 2.5 ounces, were tied to the swans with backpack harnesses made of teflon ribbon that will deteriorate and fall off the swans within a few years. The devices enable researchers to follow the swans' movements for intervals of 12 hours over the course of a year.

Less than a month later, scientists picked up several signals in Russia.

"Whooper swans can cover an area that includes China, Russia, Mongolia, Eastern Europe and even as far away as Japan," said Newman. "We want to understand where and when they are moving and if these movements correspond to avian flu occurring in wild birds and poultry."

According to the U.S. Geological Society (USGS), whooper swans drew increased attention last year after large numbers were found dead in Mongolia and western China. Subsequent samplings revealed that some of the swans were infected.

"We have a lot of general information from past research," said Newman. "But the level of detail this data provides is far more valuable if you are trying to look at disease transmission."

A similar approach was adopted this January in Europe and Africa, in which 50 ducks in the Danube delta and in Mali were equipped with miniature satellite tracking transmitters, according to Francois Monicat, head of the French agricultural research organization for developing countries (CIRAD).

"It is crucial to better familiarize ourselves with the migrations within Africa, movements from west to east and from north to south," he said.

Last winter, a case of avian flu was confirmed in Nigeria. Experts fear that the continent's combination of poverty, poor infrastructure and backyard poultry could combine to create a large number of human infections, and possibly a pandemic of the virus.

The extent to which migratory birds spread the virus remains a subject of debate. Last autumn, a Belgian bird protection society claimed international trafficking and dealing in wild birds posed a far greater risk of spreading avian flu than do healthy migratory birds, which the society said were being made into scapegoats.

"Wild birds carrying the virus in Asia or eastern Siberia were either dead or dying, and always close to contaminated poultry farms," said Hugues Fanal, director of the Belgian bird protection league. "So it's more likely that it's domestic fowl which have contaminated wild birds and not the other way round."

Indeed, Monicat said that the poultry trade, especially of day-old chicks, is an effective transmitter of the virus, and that one infected chick is all it takes for the disease to spread like wildfire.

"If the virus kills a wild animal, the animal doesn't create a reservoir for the disease," said Monicat. "The virus was isolated in only six living ducks in China in 2005, otherwise we have only found dead birds."

Avian flu is highly contagious and lethal among poultry. Transmitted from birds to humans in close proximity, it can cause sickness and death.

Since its initial outbreak in 2003, there have been 257 cases of bird flu in humans causing 148 deaths, mostly in Asia, according to World Health Organization statistics. Scientific experts across the world have expressed concern that millions could die should the virus become transmissible among humans.