Bird Flu Vigilance

By JOHN W. ALLMAN jallman@tampatrib.com

Published: Mar 4, 2006

SEFFNER - Each morning, the squawking and crowing begins anew, more than 100 feathered bodies puffing up and bellowing to be heard.

Valerie Hirvela is used to the noise. Her morning ritual of feeding and cleaning can mean up to three hours each day tending to her backyard flock in rural Hillsborough County.

To her, these chickens are like children. Many have names - Radar, Lester, Peggy, Slick. She holds them and coos, beaming like a proud momma.

To others, they are part of a potential pandemic that is defined by two words: bird flu. And should the deadly avian influenza A virus, called H5N1, reach the United States, her flock and hundreds of others in Florida might be in jeopardy of infection or, worse, eradication.

"If you're conscientious, there's really very little danger," said Hirvela, 52. "We watch our chickens every day and, by golly, you can tell by their posture if they're not feeling well."

Hirvela raises her chickens for exhibition. Her backyard flock is one of more than 300 statewide that are tested annually by the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services' Division of Animal Industry.

The test involves a tracheal swab placed down the bird's throat. It's placed in broth and sent to a lab for analysis. The state counts on such owners to report sick birds as soon as they notice them.

Bird flu occurs naturally in wild fowl. Many birds are carriers, harboring the virus in their intestines. It can be passed easily among flocks through direct contact of bodily fluids such as saliva or feces, by sharing water or food or by a healthy bird touching a surface where a sick bird has been.

H5N1 is one of the few strains of bird flu that can infect people. Like human influenza, the virus has numerous strains, most of which are not harmful. Of the most recent cases of bird flu in Florida, reported in 1986, 1992, 1993 and 2001, all were low-grade and not contagious to people, said Jennifer Jennings-Glover, the department's agricultural and consumer protection administrator.

"We're a clean state," Jennings-Glover said. "We've actually been testing for avian influenza for 20 years" in the commercial industry.

Fear Grows

Since December 2003, the world has watched bird flu become a topic of international interest. It has been reported in poultry or wild birds in 33 countries from Asia to Africa to Europe.

Health officials have warned about the possibility for the virus to mutate and start passing between humans. Should that occur, a flu pandemic could kill millions because there is no vaccine available for people. World leaders have called for cooperation in stopping its spread and funding vaccine research and production. The World Health Organization reports 174 people have been infected, most by direct contact with sick birds. Of those people, 94 have died. No cases of human-to-human transmission have been reported.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that infected birds have been detected in the wild and in poultry flocks. Human infection has ranged from direct contact to two cases in Vietnam in 2005 where people became sick after drinking uncooked duck blood.

The virus has not reached the United States. For it to get here, officials say, it is likely to come through Alaska, where three of the world's migratory pathways intersect. Testing of seasonal birds there is under way.

"Our frontline surveillance to monitor the migratory flyways is right there in Alaska," said Steve Huard, public information officer for the Hillsborough County Health Department. "Once H5N1 makes its way into the United States, then our surveillance systems, we'll start looking at everything across the" country.

Still, Huard cautions, "just because we get H5N1 doesn't mean there will be human-to-human transmission."

To prepare, Florida is stepping up its testing of commercial and domestic poultry. The number of birds being examined will more than triple this year, Jennings-Glover said, from 4,000 sampled in 2004-05 to 15,000 by October 2006.

The testing is done in two parts, commercial and domestic.

The commercial poultry industry, which includes broiler and egg chickens, has more than 31 million birds housed in Florida. The Division of Animal Industry assigns 35 agents throughout the state to collect samples. Officials stress that there has been no indication of people getting sick from eating properly cooked poultry.

Then there are noncommercial sites - botanicas, specialty markets that cater to Cuban-Americans who practice Santeria; animal sale markets; live bird markets; state fair exhibition flocks; and backyard flocks. Agents have to sample only a small percentage of birds to determine whether the virus is present, Jennings-Glover said.

The state and county health departments also monitor seasonal flu infections among people.

Together, the agencies receive information provided by more than 100 sentinel physicians, private doctors across Florida who report each week to the CDC and the state about increased or unusual flu symptoms, said Doc Kokol, spokesman for the Florida Department of Health.

The state also tracks a national database that charts the sale of over-the-counter medications and other items, such as thermometers, that might indicate a spike in flulike symptoms.

There are five Department of Health laboratories in Florida, including one in Tampa, that are equipped to handle infectious material. In addition, 59 CDC employees are assigned to Florida.

The state also is trying to stock up on supplies, should an outbreak occur.

Gov. Jeb Bush, as part of his supplemental budget for 2006-07, asked the state Legislature on Thursday to approve $33.8 million to buy 1.8 million units of Tamiflu, an antiviral medication shown to be effective against H5N1.

Kokol said projections show that "in a pandemic event, 25 percent of Florida's population will seek treatment [from a health care provider]. That's approximately 4.6 million folks."

The federal government has agreed to buy the remaining Tamiflu units for Floridians, he said.

"It's going to take a communitywide response," Kokol said. "There are some models that show we may have as many as 30 percent of our work force sick. That means 30 percent of your newspaper may not come to work. How are you going to continue to publish your newspaper? Those are the kinds of decisions people need to be making now under the calm."

People need to prepare, he said, just as they would for a hurricane, even though projections place a pandemic outbreak as lasting far longer, possibly months.

"If we could get everybody in Florida prepared with 72 hours of food and water," he said, "we would be ahead of the curve."

From Zoos To Back Yards

At the Lowry Park Zoo, plans are under way to protect the 300 exotic and native birds housed there.

C. Lex Salisbury, president and chief executive officer, said Lowry Park is monitoring efforts overseas as reported by the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

"The benefit we have of their leadership is that avian flu is already in a number of their areas and it hasn't really been a problem," Salisbury said.

Should an outbreak occur in the United States, the zoo immediately would cease interaction between people and birds and would move its outdoor birds inside.

In Seffner, Valerie Hirvela said she would respond much the same way. She said she would block her chickens from coming into contact with a wild bird by imposing a self-quarantine.

But she fears it might not be enough. She worries about a "witch hunt" if bird flu reaches the United States.

"Sometimes the public can put pressure on the government to do those type of things," she said, looking out on a pen where two large fowl males, a father and son named Lester and Slick, strutted in the yard. "The chickens themselves, I'm very tied into mine emotionally. "