Two wild swans have virus, but not the virus

USA TODAY, August, 2006 by Anita Manning

Federal officials say the discovery of a bird flu virus in two wild swans in southeastern Michigan poses no threat to public health or the poultry industry.

Tests results released on Monday found H5 and N1 subtypes in the birds, said Ron DeHaven, administrator of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, but "this is not the highly pathogenic avian influenza that has spread through much of other parts of the world."

Pathogenicity, high or low, indicates the ability of the virus to cause illness. The swans showed no signs of sickness, nor did any birds around them, DeHaven said. Further testing is being done at a national veterinary lab in Ames, Iowa.

A highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus that emerged in Hong Kong in 1997 and spread through Asia and into Africa and Europe has not been found in the USA. It ...