Der Spiegel article:
http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/mensch/0,1518,403367,00.html
“Researchers doubt the migratory bird thesis”
[“machine translation”]
How the bird flu came to Germany, is further completely unclear.
While politicians and veterinarians before the beginning of the bird
course warn, experts refer to the gaps of the realizations: It seems,
as if could not have been wild geese, swans and ducks it alone.
The map of the world became a patch carpet. From China and Viet Nam
broad itself red fields out: Those countries, in which the bird flu
virus H5N1 breaks out. Countries seem almost daily to be added,
recently ever more European. And also when regarding the Germany map
the patch carpet association forces itself upon. It met ruegen as the
first, in the midst of H5N1-freier of neighboring countries. The
brandenburgischen districts concerned do not border evenly on the
island. East Holstein lies 150 kilometers further west. In order to
arrive at the Bodensee beach of Ueberlingen or the Mannheimer Rhine
bank, must the exciter the entire Federal Republic have diagonally
crossed. Has? Would have? Only how? Flown?
“it is missed to make migratory birds responsible for the bird flu”,
said the Executive Secretary of the UN convention about moving animal
species (CMS), Robert Hepworth. For the spreading of the virus by
migratory birds give it no scientific vouchers.
Migratory birds under general suspicion
Ministers and veterinarians warn unisono of the beginning of the bird
course in approaching spring. Migratory birds are firstbest
suspecting. “if game birds the main carriers would be, for example
between China and Nigeria, then one would nevertheless expect, says
outbreaks on the distance between them also” Lenten. The dangerous
virus spread from the east to the west, the relevant bird course
routes run in north south direction. In the case ruegen it is added
that many swans concerned were at all no classical migratory birds,
but at best so-called Kaeltefluechter.
“I think nothing at all from this theory”, say the micro biologist
Alexander Kekule of the University of resound Wittenberg. Because
after everything which one knows, works the virus in swans very fast
and very strongly. “Kekule fall in few days dead over”, stress.
“one-way street thinking” calls the ornithologist Klaus Dieter fig
the thesis that game birds brought the virus in made of Eastern
Europe, where their breeding districts with those overlap themselves
to Asia of pulling birds. Cowardly one is a national boss of the
Ornithologi working group Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Thomas Mettenleiter, boss of the Friedrich Loeffler institute speaks
only of the fact that “puzzlesteine” point on it who can itself have
moved exciters “stafettenartig” in the federal territory. In Lettland
of beringter Singschwan is considered as a main suspect: It was one
of the first animals, with which on ruegen H5N1 one determined.
During its takeoff it is to have been still healthy. “it was beringt
in Lettland, but we do not know, where it was infected, says” UN game
bird advocate Lenten. Officially the Osteekueste of Russia is
considered until to Usedom as H5N1-frei. Also cases of suspicion were
so far not announced.
Fear forwards and aggression against game birds
But how otherwise the exciter – in living birds, their meat or their
excrement – could have come to Central Europe? Bert Lenten enumerates
possibilities: Trade, smuggling, illegal Einfurh of living person or
totem poultry. “in Eastern Europe even the muck from chicken houses
is taken as fodder for fischteiche”, said it. “we have the case of a
swan, that with its Beringung in Hungary were core healthy and two
days later dead in Croatia were gathered.” Who only concentrates on
migratory birds as a carrier of H5N1, ignore other infection ways –
that is dangerous.
In January the Politpopulist Vladimir Schirinowski in the Russian
parliament had demanded to shoot all migratory birds with the return
from their Turkish winter districts. “the government must put a latch
plate for the bird course forward”, demanded it. In Turkey in January
four children had died after a H5N1-Infektion. “the birds are to
remain, where they are”, said the politician.