Caution is urged to avoid bird flu

[unhappycamper]

Wild swans are pictured in February 2008 on northeast Japan's Lake Towada, a popular tourist site about 35 miles southwest of Misawa Air Base. At least three swans near the lake on the Akita prefecture side have died from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza.


Caution is urged to avoid bird flu
By Jennifer H. Svan, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, May 2, 2008

MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan — Following the discovery of the deadly bird flu virus in at least three swans at popular tourist site Lake Towada, Misawa Air Base’s public health flight commander is urging Americans to use caution around wild birds but says the risk to the base population is “low to none.”

Maj. Mahendra Kabbur said people should avoid traveling to wild bird sanctuaries, such as Kabushima, also known as “Seagull Island,” and refrain from feeding wild birds at local waters. Besides Towada, those include Magi pond at Shimoda Park and Lake Ogawara at the base beach.

“Although chances of catching bird flu (are) low to none, following precautionary measures should help to minimize any risk associated with contracting bird flu,” Kabbur wrote in an e-mail to Stars and Stripes.

One dying and three dead swans were discovered April 21 near Lake Towada. The Japanese government confirmed Tuesday the dead swans were infected with the virulent H5N1 strain of avian influenza, which has killed tens of millions of birds since the first cases were reported in Hong Kong in 1997.

Lake Towada, the largest caldera lake on Japan’s main island of Honshu, is about 35 miles southwest of the air base. It’s one of several winter destinations in the area for migratory swans from Siberia.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=54474