National Wildlife Disease Program (NWDP)
Recent Activities: ALASKA
DISEASE SURVEILLANCE
- avian influenza
- plague & tularemia
- West Nile virus
SPECIAL INTEREST
- Stellar eider recovery project concluded (July
2008)
After 4 years of assistance from WS, the Stellar eider recovery project
concluded with a record number of nests counted for these threatened
species.
- Greenland HPAI surveillance project
(July 2008)
WDB Sinnett and three Wildlife Biologists from Alaska traveled to
northwestern Greenland to capture molting geese for the purpose of
sampling them for HPAI surveillance. From Thule Air Base, the crew
took a chartered helicopter to Booth Sound, which is approximately
41 miles to the northwest. They were able to sample 283 snow geese
and 24 Canada geese for HPAI. Because very little is known about the
geese that summer in northern Greenland, the team also banded and
took important biological measurements from the captured birds. It
is hoped that this sampling effort will yield valuable biological
information. Samples were brought back to the United States and tested
for the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza.
Contact:
Wildlife Disease Biologist David Sinnett (AK)
(907)745-0871
David.R.Sinnett@aphis.usda.gov
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