BANGOR (AP) – Wildlife biologists have begun testing migratory birds in Maine for avian influenza as part of a national readiness program to detect the deadly virus.

So far, most of Maine’s bird flu monitoring has focused on state’s commercial poultry flocks. But in the past week, biologists have started testing Arctic terns, common eiders and black guillemots; they also plan to test Canada geese and other types of waterfowl.

The H5N1 avian influenza strain has devastated poultry flocks in Southeast Asia and killed several dozen people worldwide since it first appeared in Hong Kong in 1997. No one knows when or if it will arrive on U.S. shores, but if it comes on the wings of a migratory bird, experts want to know early on.

For the testing program in Maine, the birds will be captured, swabbed and released unharmed, said Michael Schummer, a wildlife biologist and game bird specialist with the state Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife. The swab samples will be sent to laboratories for testing for any of the dozens of bird flu strains typically found in wild populations.

“When we send these to the lab, we will likely get some positives for avian influenza, but it probably will not be H5N1,” Schummer said.

Nationally, all four major migratory bird “flyways” in the United States are being monitored for signs of bird flu, said Christopher Brand, chief of research at the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison, Wis.

Alaska, which is at the crossroads of bird migration flyways, has been testing since 1998.

Brand said 75,000 to 100,000 bird, water and environmental samples will be tested in 2006.

“What we are trying to do is detect it early,” Brand said.

In Maine, the state Center for Disease Control has also opened its seasonal hot line for residents to call and report dead birds in an effort to track West Nile virus and other diseases carried by birds. It can also be used in the detection of avian flu.

The agency is encouraging people to call its dead-bird reporting line at (888) 697-5846. In some cases, health officials will collect the birds for testing.

The line has operated seasonally since 2000. The state last year identified 22 birds that were carrying West Nile Virus and a dozen more that had eastern equine encephalitis.

West Nile can be carried in infected birds, and then transmitted through mosquitoes that bite the birds.

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