Now did all 3400 of the now deceased ducks pass through Alberta or BC?
How can you be certain that they ALL went through Alberta?
Isn't it a bit odd that BC has ducks dying left and right, no conclusive report as to cause of death but that's somehow unrelated to the ducks dead in Idaho?
In Alberta the only thing I can find about dead ducks was an older article about duck plague (enteritis) from April 1976...
BC has had a huge number of ducks found dead and dying.
I'm not a migratory expert but it stands to reason, that if the dots are connected we get ducks traveling down through BC and on into the USA. Yes quite a lot pass through Alberta and Saskatchewan even... how do we know where these ducks have passed through conclusively though? I haven't read any report stating that banded birds have been tracked through Alberta to Idaho...likewise the same can be said about birds in BC...
2004 we were hit (Fraser Valley) with bird flu and scores of birds had to be destroyed...
BC has a history. Sadly, I think the most obvious place to look is here in our backyard
In Chilliwack the suspect in the deaths is tainted grain that the ducks grazed on in a farmer's field.
Alberta has had a very low death count of Mallards/birds in general.
I think it's very unlikely that the dead ducks in Idaho picked up anything in Alberta and even more unlikely that all 3400 birds now dead went through only Alberta on their way.
Back in 2005 there were death of foul due to avian flu(s) both H5 and N1 seperately were suspect. Though they did not suspect that the birds carried nor died from the deadly combination H5N1.
From Recombinomics.com
Dual H5N1 Bird Flu Infections in North America
Commentary
September 3, 2006
It is possible that these birds were not infected with an H5N1 strain, but instead with two separate avian influenza viruses, one containing H5 and the other containing N1. The confirmatory testing underway at USDA's National Veterinary Services Laboratories will clarify whether one or more strains of the virus are present, the specific subtype, as well as confirm the pathogenicity.
The above comments raise the possibility of dual or multiple infections in the H5N1 positive mallards, which is a distinct possibility. However, the cloned H5N1 from a mute swan in Michigan was H5N1 and sequence data from mallards in Maryland and Pennsylvania indicate that the H5 positive samples in those states are similar to the H5N1 detected in Michigan. Thus, although the isolates from Maryland and Pennsylvania may be mixtures, both samples likely include H5N1.
The finding of the H5N1 serotypes in all three states is unexpected based on results from southern Canada in 2005. The Canadian tests found H5 in 218 birds, and the vast majority, 187, was in mallards. However, most of these isolates were not H5N1. Most of the H5 positives were in British Columbia, where H5N2 and H5N9 serotypes were identified. The second highest total was in Quebec, where H5N3 was found. The initial reports indicated H5N1 was only detected in Manitoba. Only three birds in Ontario were H5 positives, even though three of the collection sites were near the northern shores of Lake Erie.
Alberta doesn't even factor in.
In 2003 an Alberta duck (Italian Mallard) tested positive for H2N3. Prior to that was 2002 - H2N4.
While Alberta has it's share of migratory birds including Mallards they haven't experienced the level of infection other areas have and indeed nowhere near what BC has recorded.
IMO it's more likely that the dead Mallards in Idaho migrated through BC.
Recombinomics.com has a huge wealth of info on viral outbreaks and tracking in the various wild fowl populations.
