By Linda Weiford, WSU News PULLMAN, WASH. – The strain of bird flu causing sickness and the culling of millions of birds in the Midwest is the same strain first detected in Washington state in December, according to a Washington State University scientist who helped identify the virus. Until then, the pathogen had never been […]
By Charlie Powell, College of Veterinary Medicine PULLMAN, Wash. – Animal disease authorities both nationally and in Washington were already on high alert when in early December a large wild duck die-off occurred in northwest Washington.
By Linda Weiford, WSU News PULLMAN, Wash. – The new bird influenza spreading in China underscores the need for strong ties between veterinarians and human-health specialists, said Guy Palmer, director of the Paul G. Allen School for Global Animal Health at Washington State University.
(Photo courtesy of U. S. Department of Agriculture) Will bird flu be the next human pandemic? In a few words, the answer is simply, “No one knows yet,” says Dr. Tim Moody, Public Health Officer, Whitman County. That’s because the specific virus causing what we call bird flu, or avian influenza, must undergo significant, specific mutations to […]