The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is meeting the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and the British Trust for Ornithology following the spread of bird flu from Asia to western Russia, a Defra spokesman said.
“We are meeting with the organisations to see how we can work more closely on surveillance and get advice on the migratory patterns of wild birds,” the Defra spokesman added.
Asked whether British ornithologists will be relied upon to be the eyes and ears of Defra against the threat of bird flu, the spokesman said: “Absolutely.”
The government wants birdwatchers to be particularly vigilant for “die outs” – the deaths of groups of migratory birds for unexplained reasons.
A good example of citizens helping the government help everyone.
Experts believe the key to stopping a devastating outbreak is catching the virus before it has time to spread to native birds or poultry.
There are fears bird flu could mutate into a form which could be contracted by humans, leading to a possible flu pandemic similar to that which killed 40 million people around the world in 1918.
Migratory wild birds have been blamed for spreading the H5N1 flu strain in Russia, and officials there warned the birds could carry the virus to Europe and North America next spring.
Has anyone told the White House that birds fly from country to country without permission?
John, I am surprised at you. You surely know of our border problem to the south but we have a problem to the north, Canadian Geese. They fly over the border undected by radar, avoiding the INS at altitudes higher than any INS person can jump (and laughing at them while they do it). After they enter the government doesn’t try to catch them, in fact, they give them protection, sounds familiar?
Where do you find them? Well, you see them at golf courses, parks, business parks, ponds, and lakes leaving their mark all over the place.
Back to your question, does the White House know? Probably not.
You will not find a more dedicated and vigilant group than birders. Quite frankly I would trust the observation of an experienced birder over half a dozen government agencies. Of course thanks to the detached scientific coverage from CNN you can expect yahoos with shotguns shooting anything with feathers from their front porch before this is over.
You will be the only one on your block to know these fascinating facts about the flu:
http://www.clickitnews.com//ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases&Number=4445&page=2&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=&fpart=1
P.S John, I’m real vague about copyrights, but the article comes (indirectly) from this place:
http://www.foreignaffairs.org/permissions/#others