Bird Flu Testing on Great Salt Lake

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) Migrating birds on their way south have begun passing over the Great Salt Lake, leading state wildlife officials to start testing for avian influenza.

It is the first year for such tests, according to DWR Disease Specialist Leslie McFarlane. Crews go out in boats on the lake at night to trap and test birds for the virus.

The Asian strain of the disease known as H5N1 has not been detected in any birds in the United States, so officials are focusing on birds that have spent time breeding in Asia. McFarlane says hundreds of thousands of waterfowl and shorebirds migrate through the Great Salt Lake each year.

For several months, state health and wildlife officials have been working on a plan to handle a bird flu outbreak in Utah.

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