Dutch scientists want to inject wild swans with bird-flu

The plan to inject swans with a bird-flu virus - said to be harmless in laboratory experiments -- in a year-long GPS-tracking programme of wild swan colonies migrating to arctic Russian Federation countries and to West European countries and the United Kingdom, was approved by the Dutch minister of Health. And the Dutch society for the protection of birds also does not object to the plan. (the video shown here is of north-American swans.) But Dutch Christian-Democrat parliamentarian Henk Jan Ormel is aghast by the plan by the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam. Ormel demands that the health minister must immediately withdraw his permission - fearing that the bird-flu experiment in the wild could form a great danger to human public health and pose a danger for wild bird populations. The fact that the bird-flu virus they plan to inject the wild swans with is 'harmless in the laboratory', is no guarantee it won't act differently in the wild, Ormel said in a radio interview. The researchers want to capture and deliberately infect 16 wild Bewick Swans with this 'harmless' bird- flu virus and follow these animals during their transmigrations to the arctic regions of Russia and back to Western Europe in the spring with GPS-tags -- to establish 'how the bird-flu spreads itself in nature'. An uninfected control group will also be tagged and followed. The researchers claim there would be 'no danger to public health' but also admitted that the GPS-tracking collars do cause the swans hardships during their long migrations because the animals need to work harder to carry the extra weight, and thus lose energy more rapidly. The Netherlands is a 'hot-spot' for migratory fowl which makes it the perfect test laboratory for such an experiment, the researchers believe. Ormel said on Dutch radio today that he's not convinced that such plans would be safe for public health in Europe. "I find it extraordinary that the medical centre's media statement s claims that the virus is 'safe in the laboratory but that it could act differently in nature,' he said For the university medical centre's press release in English: see: There definitely are enormous risks, the parliamentarian warned, reminding his audience of the devastating flu epidemic which forced the Dutch domestic fowl into indoor holding pens and which had also infected many species of wild waterfowl in 2003. It was only through their diligence in collecting the diseased animals that the Dutch population did not get infected by this bird-flu. The media statement from Erasmus Medical Centre says that 'in the laboratory wild birds and poultry show no signs of illness from the specific avian influenza virus that will be administered. This may differ under natural conditions where maintenance and migration may be more energetically challenging. " "Under these circumstances, infection might result in slight discomfort,' the statement says... "such as a temporarily reduced appetite. We know from previous experience that it takes the swans a couple of days to get fully accustomed to the GPS logger. Throughout this winter and the following winter (2009 -2010) all swans will be monitored regularly from a distance, their behaviour observed and data from the GPS loggers downloaded. For this purpose, the researchers are supported by a network of volunteer ornithologists. The GPS loggers will operate for one-and-a-half years. The researchers from the Netherlands Institute of Ecology and Erasmus Medical Research Centre are highly motivated, they say, to ' increase the understanding of avian influenza viruses in wild birds.' "At the moment, there is a widespread presumption that migratory birds are responsible for the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza. This often leads to extensive and expensive measures, such as the vaccination and sheltering of domestic poultry. "This research on low pathogenic avian influenza will serve to quantify the contribution of migratory birds in the spread of avian influenza viruses. The Netherlands is a 'hot spot' for migratory birds including large numbers of waterfowl, making it an obvious site for conducting this research." The university also has a large research department to research the flu viruses, which constantly change themselves and therefore remain a threat to public health. Their researchers point out that there were three major influenza pandemics in the 20th century : a worldwide influenza epidemic that can kill millions. And the influenza pandemics of the last century were related to avian flu viruses - which produced a deadly new variant that causes illness and is moreover, very contagious among humans. Researchers at its Virology department are always working to prepare for the growing risks of an influenza pandemic. Early next year they are holding a seminar and a numbef of public exhibitions about the evolution of the H5N1 influenza virus; about its global spread, the policy measures, the vaccinations and virus inhibitors. See Ormel first wants a guarantee from Health Minister Ab Klink that this experiment 'definitely would not endanger the health of animals and humans' -- before withdrawing his demand to cancel the project. The minister has not yet responded to his request - parliament is in recess at the moment. The university researchers want to inject sixteen wild swans with the flu virus. They will be equipped with GPS bracelets. A test group of 32 non-infected wild swans will also be tagged. All the birds would be followed during their annual bird treks throughout the forthcoming winter and into next year. A Dutch bird expert, Gerald Derksen of the Bird Protection Society, said in his email to me that this plan is not dangerous and they support it. He said: "The bird flu virus which is damaging for humans, type H5N1, occurs among wild birds but they do not show any symptoms. In various parts of the world some really wild ideas have now arisen to stop this virus from spreading. There even were plans for mass-exterminations of wild birds.

"Although this virus was found among wild birds, the infections among humans by this virus are directly linked only to their own domestic fowl and domestic birds.

"There is a large remaining question in the scientific world whether wild birds play any kind of role in spreading this virus at all. Many birds are carriers of this virus without ever having any symptoms.

"Because this virus is so widespread it is difficult to termine how exactly it is being spread - and to establish this for certain once and for all, the plan is to inject 16 small swans with a recognisable virus-variant which by itself is harmless, and from which the birds do not fall ill.

"This way, the spread of this virus among other wildlife can be put on the map once it can be traced. One achieves two goals: it determines whether wild birds spread the H5N1 virus at all, and whether they are the cause of human infection, or not. The stress caused while capturing these few wild birds will lead to better protection for millions of birds worldwide. Our Society will not object to this research.' Bewick Swan migratory routes see end.