Avian Influenza

The talks of it are finally getting serious over here. We got emails from our Force Protection Officer confirmed presence of an AI strain on the Island of Kyushu (cities include: Sasebo, Nagasaki, Fukuoka) last week on the 16th. Some 12,000 chickens down in Miyazaki Prefecture died from the virus. Today we get an email saying there are alleged findings of another infected chicken farm 60km from the first one. Both are about 200km from our base.

The population has started talking and we have started releasing info on putting to doubt any rumors. All of our chicken and eggs come from approved sources from the states, which means they have been government inspected and passed high sanitation checks. The likeliness of the disease getting up here is rare but they have us preparing for it.

Sasebo is in one of the direct migratory routes for several species of migratory fowl and water fowl, which are common carriers of the disease. As soon as I get appropriate training and equipment it will be my duty to report to any dead bird sitings in the area ( on government property) and sample the carcass for any signs of the disease. (Cool huh?)

Questions? Concerns? There are several sites that offer valuable info, I'll keep you up to date on my situation but in the mean time :

http://www.avma.org/public_health/influenza/default.asp

http://www.fao.org