A quiet search has begun around Navapur’s water bodies and this time it’s not poultry under scrutiny. Wild birds, guests from Eastern Europe and Central, Northern Asia to this little town, are now on the radar of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), just in case one of the birds has flown in with the flu that’s killed poultry. A three-member BNHS team today surveyed Navapur’s largest water body—the Rangavali reservoir—and trained a telescope and powerful binoculars across the shore to count 20 wild bird species. Significantly, 14 of these species are foreign migrants, including five out of six species of ducks. The good news is that the wild birds were healthy and not a single dead or dying bird was found. But not leaving anything to chance—despite imported bird feed being considered a source of the flu—a second BNHS team of a vet, ornithologists and professional trappers will arrive at Navapur shortly, to trap wild birds and collect blood samples that will be tested at the Bhopal laboratory where the H5N1 virus was detected in poultry here. “The skies over Navapur are the East African and West Asian flyway for migratory birds,”’ says BNHS ornithologist Girish Jathar, as he scans the water. About 150 migratory bird species come to India every year, out of which 18 species, mostly ducks and geese, visit Maharashtra every winter, and return after March. Internationally, wild birds, especially waterfowl and shore birds are now under watch as potential sources of influenza in birds. Wild birds shed the bird flu virus through droppings, saliva and nasal discharge, and concern has stepped up after a wild duck and two wild swans died, reportedly of the bird flu, in France and Germany respectively. BNHS decided to rush in a team the day news of the bird flu was confirmed. The team is prepared with satellite images of Navapur’s reservoirs and a Global Positioning System (GPS) that indicates distance of poultry farms from the water bodies. “If infected poultry and wild birds mingle, the effects can be disastrous,” Jathar says. Luckily, the GPS indicated that the nearest poultry farm from Rangavali is 13.8 kms away. In Nandurbar district, the team has recorded 12 wild bird species, all migratory. “To confirm that the wild migratory birds are not carriers of bird flu, we’ll be coming to trap them and take blood samples,” says S Balachandran, senior BNHS scientist in Mumbai, who is preparing to visit Navapur once today’s team returns with a “probability” report of sites where migratory birds can be trapped. In December and January, Balachandran’s team collected samples of birds around Chilka Lake, Orissa, that were tested for the bird flu after some bird deaths were reported. “The results were negative, but this time also we need to confirm,” says Balachandran. This avian influenza and wild bird monitoring project is funded by the Ministry of Environment and Forest. While today’s team was relieved the wild birds looked safe and healthy, professionals will soon arrive to execute the bird trapping, during one night, hours before dawn. The tests in Bhopal will indicate a final result, but until then, no panic. As forces join ban, health officials eat fried chicken to dispel fears
