NJAS Position on Avian Flu Control Measures: April, 2006

After careful review of much avian flu related material, including documents prepared by other not-for-profit conservation organizations, New Jersey Audubon Society has decided to adopt the position statement developed by the American Bird Conservancy (http://www.abcbirds.org/media/releases/avian_influenza.htm) .  ABC has been a leader in avian toxicology and disease issues on a global scale.  NJAS is a member of ABC.  Additionally, we are an active participant in the Bird Conservation Alliance, a network of organizations affiliated with ABC that focus on the conservation, study, and observation of birds.

We believe the ABC statement is well thought out, purposeful and effectively represents our position, and that of many other conservation organizations.  Simply put, we advocate  monitoring domestic bird populations and aggressively removing individuals exposed to the virus from these populations as the most effective way to combat spread of the virulent avian flu strain (H5N1).  Surveillance of wild bird populations is extremely costly and ineffective.  Furthermore, we vehemently oppose culling wild bird populations or altering habitats such as draining wetlands for controlling the disease's spread.  These activities would likely cause birds to disperse more widely to avoid the perturbations, increasing the possible transmission of the disease.