SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 72

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 12 BRASILIA 000639

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT PASS USAID TO LAC/RSD, LAC/SAM, G/ENV, PPC/ENV
TREASURY FOR USED IBRD AND IDB AND INTL/MDB
USDA FOR FOREST SERVICE: MZWEEDE
INTERIOR FOR DIR INT AFFAIRS: K WASHBURN
INTERIOR FOR FWS: TOM RILEY
INTERIOR PASS USGS FOR INTERNATIONAL: J WEAVER
JUSTICE FOR ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES: JWEBB
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL: CAM HILL-MACON
USDA FOR ARS/INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH: G FLANLEY
NSF FOR INTERNATIONAL: HAROLD STOLBERG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: SENV EAGR EAID TBIO ECON SOCI XR BR
SUBJECT: SOUTH AMERICA ESTH NEWS, NUMBER 72


1. The following is the seventy-second in a series of newsletters,
published by the Brasilia Regional Environmental Hub, covering
environment, science and technology, and health news in South
America. The information below was gathered from news sources from
across the region, and the views expressed do not necessarily
reflect those of the Hub office or our constituent posts.
Addressees who would like to receive a user-friendly email version
of this newsletter should contact Larissa Stoner at
stonerla@state.gov. The e-mail version also contains a calendar of
upcoming ESTH events in the region.


2. Table of Contents

Agriculture
--(3)Venezuela Produces Ecological Cocoa
--(4)Uruguay Subsidizes Sustainable Agriculture Projects
--(5)Argentina: Biotechnology Law Approved by Senate
--(6)Brazilian Soybean Production to Drop by 1.9 Million Tons in
2006

Health
--(7)Brazil, USAID Disagree on AIDS Prevention
--(8)GM Mosquitoes Stop Dengue Virus Replicating
--(9)Argentine Researchers Identify Night Blindness as Symptom of
Chagas

Water Issues
--(10)Chile: Opposition to Four Mega-Dams
--(11)Green Issues Delay Brazilian Dam Projects

Forests
--(12)Greenpeace Denounces Deforestation in Brazil
--(13)Brazil Clears Law on Amazon Wood Logging
--(14)Preserving Chile's Southern Forests
--(15)Chile: Forest Fire Prevention Effort Pays Off

Wildlife
--(16)New Private Bird Watching Park Launched In Chile
--(17)Invasion of Scorpions in Argentina

Protected Areas
--(18)Paraguay is Able to Extend Area of Nature Reserve

Science & Technology
--(19)Peru: University Invites Presidential Candidates to Discuss
S&T
--(20)A Perspective on S&T in Colombia
--(21)Argentina to Subsidize 28 S&T Institutions

Industrialization
--(22)Brazil Calls for Uruguayan-Argentine Dialogue over Pulp Plants
Dispute

Pollution
--(23)Cutting Methane Emissions 'Will Save 370,000 Lives'


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Energy
--(24)Brazil Proposes Regional Energy Market
--(25)Peru: Camisea Chaos
--(26)Argentina: Hydrogen Pilot Reactor
--(27)Venezuela's Pipeline Strikes Out

General
--(28)Cartagena Protocol Meeting Decides To Label GMO Exports
--(29)Chile: Caving Expedition Makes Historic Discovery in
Patagonia
--(30)Venezuela: Mining Activities Halted in River Basin
--(31)Chevening Scholarships in Biodiversity

Update on Avian Influenza
--(32)Renowned Bird Flu Expert Warns: Be Prepared
--(33)Flamingo Deaths Spark Bird Flu Probe in Bahamas

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Agriculture
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3. Venezuela Produces Ecological Cocoa

MAR. 04, 2006 - Twenty farmers from Ocumare de la Costa, 120 km
northwest of Caracas, produced 5,000 kilograms of cocoa without
using agro-chemicals in their cultivation, qualifying it as an
"organic product" for the certifying entity Biolatina, based in
Peru. The project was a joint effort, over nearly three years, of
the association of farmers, government agencies and non-governmental
Tierra Viva Foundation. The project aims to "reach all farmers near
the Henri Pittier National Park," an unusual mountain rainforest
along Venezuela's central Caribbean coast, where Chuao cocoa is
produced, one of the most aromatic in the world.

Source - Tierramerica


4. Uruguay Subsidizes Sustainable Agriculture Projects

FEB. 28, 2006 - The GOU announced it will provide US$40 million in
financial support for rural producers working to improve the
management of natural resources and biodiversity. This subsidy is
part of a larger governmental program for "Responsible Production,"
which will extend until 2011. The program hopes to improve soil,
water, and biodiversity management and contribute to agricultural
development in Uruguay. World Bank, UNEP, and FAO are the
organizations that provided the money.

Source - SciDev


5. Argentina: Biotechnology Law Approved by Senate

FEB. 23, 2006 - The Argentine Senate has approved a biotechnology
law, which will stimulate the development of both research and
production in modern biotechnology. The law will provide discounts
and bonuses for biotech research projects over the next fifteen
years. Argentina has over 80 biotech companies, most of which work

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with genetically modified seeds for agricultural use.

Source - SciDev


6. Brazilian Soybean Production to Drop by 1.9 Million Tons in 2006

FEB. 21, 2006 - As a result of drought and a lack of investment in
technology, the Brazilian soybean crop this year is expected to drop
to 56.26 million tons, which represents about 1.9 million tons less
than the 58 million tons originally forecast.

Source - Public Affairs US Embassy Brasilia. Original source: Folha
de Sco Paulo

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Health
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7. Brazil, USAID Disagree on AIDS Prevention

MAR. 14, 2006 - Weekend Brazilian newspapers picked up on the public
exchange between the director of Brazil's National AIDS Program,
Pedro Chequer, and the USAID in Brazil. According to the reports,
Chequer accused the USAID of planning to implement programs to
foster abstinence as a means of preventing AIDS contamination among
young Brazilian populations without first getting authorization from
Brazilian health officials. The stories note that USAID responded
that this issue had been discussed with the Brazilian officials, and
that there had been an agreement for addressing abstinence as one of
the possible means of prevention.

Source - Public Affairs US Embassy Brasilia


8. GM Mosquitoes Stop Dengue Virus Replicating

MAR. 14, 2006 - Mosquitoes can be genetically modified to resist
being infected by the virus that causes dengue fever, say
researchers. It is the first time that scientists have bred
mosquitoes that not only resist 'type 2' dengue virus - the most
prevalent strain - but also pass this resistance on to their
offspring. Dengue fever is spread through the bite of the Aedes
aegypti mosquito. Each year, the virus kills about 20,000 of the 50
million people it infects across the developing world. The
researchers say that releasing the genetically modified (GM)
mosquitoes could help prevent people from catching the disease as
the mosquitoes would no longer be able to transmit the virus. They
add, though, that much more research is needed before this can
happen. The team, led by Ken Olson of Colorado State University in
the United States, published their findings 13 March in Proceedings
of the National Academy of Sciences.

Source - SciDev


9. Argentine Researchers Identify Night Blindness as Symptom of
Chagas


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MAR. 05, 2006 - Researchers from the Instituto de Investigaciones en
Genetica y Biologia Molecular in Argentina concluded that the
antibodies produced during an attack by the parasite Tripanosoma
cruzi affect the cells of the retina, leading to night blindness.
The findings, which were published in the FASEB Journal, may help
determine (in the future) which specific antibodies cause heart and
retina damage in order to perform better diagnosis.

Source - SciDev

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Water Issues
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10. Chile: Opposition to Four Mega-Dams

MAR. 04, 2006 - An international offensive led by the U.S.-based
International Rivers Network seeks to prevent financial agencies
from funding the Spanish transnational Endesa for building four huge
hydroelectric dams on the Baker and Pascua rivers, 1,800 km south of
the Chilean capital. According to Endesa, the project will be ready
in 2008 and activated between 2012 and 2018. It will generate 2,430
megawatts, require the construction of 2,000 km of transmission
lines and flood of some 9,000 hectares.

Source - Tierramerica


11. Green Issues Delay Brazilian Dam Projects

FEB. 2006 - Brazil, undeterred by the December sale of just seven of
17 dam concessions slated for auction, plans a new round of bidding
in May to meet energy demand expected over the next two to three
years. In another move to boost the power supply, the government
has announced plans to issue preliminary environmental licenses this
year for two large dams on the Amazon region's Madeira River.
Concessions for the dams, whose collective generating capacity would
total 6,450 megawatts (MW),could be auctioned off as soon as the
second half of the year. Critics of the government's hydropower
policy dismiss the Amazon dam-licensing news as an election-year
gambit by the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to
shift attention from its weak December auction. The government
originally had planned to sell concessions for 17 small and
medium-sized dams. But state and federal environmental agencies only
granted preliminary environmental licenses for 11 of the projects.
Of those projects, two were sidelined by court injunctions and two
others by an administrative glitch.

Source - EcoAmericas (please contact Larissa Stoner for complete
article)

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Forests
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12. Greenpeace Denounces Deforestation in Brazil


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MAR. 08, 2006 - While Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva
defended, in an article published by the UK newspaper The Guardian,
his government's progress in the environmental preservation, NGO
Greenpeace published a one-page announcement in the newspaper The
Independent, in which it criticizes the destruction of the Amazon
Forest. "Since president Lula came to the power, an area of the
Amazon Forest larger than the half of the size of England was
destroyed illegally by lumbermen, soy production and cattle
ranching", Greenpeace says. This occurred while President Lula was
on official visit to England.

Source - Planet Save


13. Brazil Clears Law on Amazon Wood Logging

MAR. 06, 2006 - Brazil has approved a law granting licenses for
logging in publicly owned sections of the Amazon rainforest, a move
aimed at halting its destruction. Under the new law - signed by
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva - timber companies will be given
up to 40-year licenses under the condition that all logging be
sustainable. Independent inspections of licensed sites are to be
carried out every five years. Critics of the law have argued this is
not enough. But environmental groups and experts have hailed the
new law as a milestone in the fight to preserve the Amazon, about 17
percent of which has been destroyed to date, studies say. About 75
percent of the rain forest is publicly owned, and the government
plans to offer commercial access to three percent of this rainforest
over the next 10 years.

Source - MercoPress


14. Preserving Chile's Southern Forests

MAR 9, 2006 - The recently created Karukinka nature reserve in the
Chilean part of the Tierra del Fuego reserve traces its history back
to the 1990s, when Trillium, an American firm, attempted to log the
island's forests of lenga, a type of beech found only in southern
Chile and Argentina. The project, however, ran into opposition from
local environmental groups and failed. In 2002 Goldman Sachs
acquired the loans that had backed the project--and with them the
2,750 square kilometer property--as part of a package of distressed
debt. Two years later the firm donated the land to the Wildlife
Conservation Society (WCS) of New York and the reserve was born.
Initially, the project will focus on restoring the ecosystem to its
original condition--in particular by "containing" beavers introduced
from Canada in the 1950s for fur farming. In the absence of
predators, these rodents have run amok, damming every river in sight
and causing extensive damage to the trees. Moreover, the reserve
aims to serve as a model for the conservation of southern Patagonia,
in which Tierra del Fuego is located. But, although the area is the
largest in Chile under the management of an overseas conservation
organization and, possibly, the best funded, it is not Chile's first
private reserve.

Source - The Economist (no link),article kindly shared by US
Embassy Santiago.

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15. Chile: Forest Fire Prevention Effort Pays Off

MAR. 06, 2006 - Fewer forest fires occurred in 2005/2006 than in any
of the previous five years, reported CONAF, the state forestry
agency. CONAF reported that only 3,530 fires occurred this year, a
32% drop compared to the 5,205 fires that have occurred on average
in the past five years. Forest losses fell 70 percent this year
compared to last season. Fire prevention has been emphasized by
CONAF in communities where fires are most apt to occur, especially
Regions V and VIII. Getting special attention, too, was the Torres
del Paine National Park, which lost more than 15,000 hectares of
forest due to a negligent camper using a cook stove in an area where
it was not allowed.

Source - Santiago Times (no link)

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Wildlife
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16. New Private Bird Watching Park Launched In Chile

MAR. 17, 2006 - Sixty two hectares of property owned by the Modinger
Brothers Meat Packing Company near the town of Llanquihue have been
converted into one of the few thematic parks to exist in southern
Chile. The newly created Maullin River Ornithological Park provides
a home to over 100 different species of birds native to the local
forests including the Chucao, the Hued Hued, the Black Woodpecker,
the Choroy Parrot, and the Black-Necked Swan. The endangered river
nutria will also be featured in this park. The park opens
officially on April 1 and is located six kilometers from Llanquihue
in Region X, about 30 minutes north of Puerto Montt.

Source - Santiago Times (no link)


17. Invasion of Scorpions in Argentina

FEB. 28, 2006 - The recent invasion of scorpions has resulted in
three deaths with a rise in the number of attacks within the last
year. In La Rioja, a socio-economically deprived area, a six-year
old girl was the third death in the last month. A seven year old boy
was also attacked in La Rioja in December 2005. The other death of
a four year old boy occurred in Poma, northeast of Aimogasta, a few
days earlier. The three deaths and increasing number of cases
support the theory that there is an invasion of scorpions in La
Rioja and Catamarca. Nito Brizuela, an environmentalist, reported
scorpions in fifty-four neighborhoods of San Fernando del Valle de
Catamarca, the provincial capital. The most poisonous specie, Titius
trivitatus, was found in nine of the neighborhoods. In 2003, this
species had only been detected in one neighborhood.

Source - Clarin. Kindly shared by US Embassy Buenos Aires.

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Protected Areas

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18. Paraguay is Able to Extend Area of Nature Reserve

FEB. 23, 2006 - With the help of international NGOs WWF, TNC, and
World Parks, Guyra Paraguay (a local NGO) was able to add another
2,100 hectares to the San Rafael Reserve, in the Upper Parana region
of the country. According to the press report, fifty percent of the
land was obtained through a Debt for Nature swap agreement between
the United States and Paraguay through WWF. More financing is
needed to maintain the area, which now encompasses 5,800 hectares
(note: the area of the San Rafael region extends 78,000 hectares,
but only 5,800 are guaranteed as a reserve). On another note, the
government of Taiwan has agreed to cooperate with Paraguay in
joining two parks, Taro and Avyrareta, within the San Rafael area.
An exchange in biodiversity research is also part of the agreement,
which was discussed in 2004 and will (tentatively) be signed during
the next visit of the Taiwan delegation.

Source - IUCN

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Science & Technology
--------------


19. Peru: University Invites Presidential Candidates to Discuss S&T

MAR. 14, 2006 - Only three of the twenty-five presidential
candidates for the upcoming election in Peru agreed to present their
science and technology program to a specialized audience on March 09
at the Universidad Mayor de San Marcos, in Lima; neither of which
were ranked amongst the top electoral preferences. One of the main
concerns of those present at the event is to guarantee that the
country's current S&T plan, valid until 2012, will be carried out
regardless of the political party governing the country.

Source - SciDev


20. A Perspective on S&T in Colombia

MAR. 14, 2006 - According to the new director of Colciencias
(Colombia Institute for Scientific Development),Felipe Garcia,
Colombia needs an advanced level in science and technology in order
to advance as a country. Garcia hopes to create a strong link
between researchers and the productive sector. Juan Alfredo Pinto,
president of the Colombian Association of Small and Medium
Industries pointed the need for a Ministry of S&T to stimulate
competitiveness. Eduardo Posada, president of the Colombian
Association for the Advance of Science believes an entity similar to
the U.S. National Science Foundation would be appropriate.

Source - SciDev


21. Argentina to Subsidize Twenty-eight S&T Institutions

MAR. 10, 2006 - The minister of Education, Science, and Technology,

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Daniel Filmus, announced recently that the GOA will provide
subsidies totalling US$1.5 million uo to 2008 to twenty-eight
scientific institutions in the country. Filmus highlighted the
importance of sponsoring scientific projects and announced that the
National Agency for Science Promotion will be launching a graduate
course for capacity-building of human resources - investing a total
of US$40 million.

Source - SciDev

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Industrialization
--------------


22. Brazil Calls for Uruguayan-Argentine Dialogue over Pulp Plants
Dispute

MAR. 16, 2006 - Brazil called for frank dialogue between Uruguay and
Argentina in an attempt to bring about a settlement in their dispute
over the installation of two pulp plants on Uruguayan territory.
"Differences between countries in our region can be resolved by a
frank dialogue and by understanding between leaders," Lula told the
press, after meeting with Uruguay's president Tabare Vazquez at the
Planalto Palace in Brasilia. The Uruguayan president started his
five-nation tour discussing the conflict between Uruguay and
Argentina over the construction of two pulp factories. Argentina is
opposed to the project, saying the paper factories will contaminate
the waters of River Uruguay, a river shared by the two countries.

Source - Xinhuanet.com

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Pollution
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23. Cutting Methane Emissions 'Will Save 370,000 Lives'

MAR. 07, 2006 - Reducing methane emissions by 20 per cent could
prevent 370,000 deaths worldwide between 2010 and 2030, say
researchers in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The
researchers add that the money saved by preventing these deaths
would exceed the cost of cutting emissions. Jason West, of
Princeton University, and colleagues note that a lack of data from
developing countries makes it difficult to predict just how health
benefits would manifest there. The main human activities that
contribute to methane emissions are cattle and rice farming. Other
sources include coal mining, landfill sites, and the burning of
biomass.

Source - SciDev

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Energy
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24. Brazil Proposes Regional Energy Market

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MAR. 04, 2006 - Latin America should form a regional market for
cheap energy that will boost development across the continent, a top
energy official said March 3rd. The Latin American market would
include oil, gas and electricity and could be modeled after the
European Coal and Steel Community, the forerunner of the European
Union, said Norberto de Franco Medeiros, head of the Brazilian
Committee of the World Energy Council. Medeiros said the Council
had proposed a two-year study of possible energy links in Latin
America. The centerpieces of the continental link would be a
5,000-mile (8,000 km) pipeline from Venezuela to Argentina, cutting
through Brazil's Amazon rain forest and branching off to Bolivia,
Paraguay and Uruguay. Medeiros also cited the proposed construction
of two hydroelectric dams on the Amazon and the Madeira River that
could provide "cheap and competitive energy" for Brazil and
neighboring Bolivia. The projects are pending approval by Brazil's
Environment Ministry.

Source - MercoPress


25. Peru: Camisea Chaos

MAR. 04, 2006 - The March 4 rupture of the Camisea pipeline, which
affected nearly 150,000 square meters of farmland and destroyed
several homes, has the Gas Transport Consortium (TGP) and the
Peruvian Government scrambling for answers. Energy and Mines
Minister Glodomiro Sanchez, back from the Prospectors and Developers
Conference in Toronto, visited the impacted zone, in Cusco's jungle
region, as did a host of other government authorities. Locals made a
number of demands, and the Government agreed that an integral audit
of the pipeline was needed, given that the March 4 rupture was the
fifth serious incident in fifteen months. The Inter-American
Development Bank (IDB),which loaned $130 million to the Camisea
consortium for the pipeline, released a communiqu stating that it
"is deeply concerned about the five spills that have occurred on the
Camisea natural gas liquids pipeline since 2004." The Bank stated
that its engineers would perform an expanded review and analysis of
the project design.

Source - ConsultAndes


26. Argentina: Hydrogen Pilot Reactor

MAR. 03, 2006 - A group of investigators in Argentina are studying
how to utilize hydrogen obtained through renewable and
non-contaminated bio-energy resources such as sugar cane, corn,
sorghum and beet plantations. The project consists of a pilot
reactor producing synthesized gas and hydrogen, through a renewable
resource, as a product of bio-ethanol. This technological advance
will help reduce the current climatic effects contributing to global
warming. The final objective of the plan is to utilize the pure
hydrogen as a combustible for electric vehicles. It is important to
be able to use hydrogen in the same place it is produced. Currently,
vehicles that directly utilize hydrogen have problems with the
storage of hydrogen because it requires very low temperatures and
high pressures resulting in high costs and safety risks.

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Source - Pagina 12 (no link). Kindly shared by US Embassy Buenos
Aires


27. Venezuela's Pipeline Strikes Out

MAR. 02, 2006 - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's proposal to build
a natural gas pipeline is probably not possible. Ninety percent of
Venezuelan natural gas reserves are associated with oil and cannot
be produced at will without ruining the oil reservoirs; 40 percent
of the gas currently produced has to be put back into the reservoirs
to preserve them. The official projections of Venezuelan gas
production for the next decade indicate that the country will have
barely enough natural gas to satisfy its domestic needs. The
pipeline probably would not be economic, either. Building costs
would be $25 billion to $30 billion, which would require the gas to
be sold in Argentina at the equivalent of $110 for a barrel of oil.
Finally, the pipeline would be undesirable for the environment. The
Amazon already is in a grave stage of degradation, and a pipeline
would constitute a further threat.

Source - Washington Post

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General
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28. Cartagena Protocol Meeting Decides To Label GMO Exports

MAR. 18, 2006 - The Meeting of Parties to the Cartagena Protocol
(MOP 3) decided to implement the labeling of food product exports
containing genetically modified organisms, but only in six years,
with interim rules for gradual implementation that benefit
non-signatory countries. Brazilian business daily Valor Economico
reports that the Conference of the Parties (COP 8) begins to discuss
in Curitiba the issue of "bio-prospecting," or the capture of
genetic materials for use in the development of new products.
According to the daily, Brazil, India and African countries defend
the creation of specific international legislation regulating this
process to prevent biopiracy, something that countries such as
Australia and some European and Asian countries oppose because of
the costs it could create for research.

Source - Public Affairs US Embassy Brasilia


29. Chile: Caving Expedition Makes Historic Discovery in Patagonia

MAR. 8, 2006 - A team of French and Chilean cave explorers
discovered cave paintings and indigenous tombs on a remote
Patagonian island that had been considered uninhabitable. The
surprised investigators were the members of "Ultimate Patagonia
2006," a two-month long caving expedition organized by the French
Speleology Federation in collaboration with the University of Chile
and Catholic University in Santiago. The destination of the thirty
speleologists, biologists and geologists was Madre de Dios Island, a
rocky outpost of porous lime toward the tip of Patagonia, where

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Chile crumbles into the South Pacific. Twenty-four hours by boat
from Puerto Natales, the island is hardly an alluring homeland.
Until now there has been no evidence of a human presence there.
Nelson Aguilera, of the National Corporation of Indigenous
Development, called the discoveries "historic:" "One thing that is
certain is that the Canoeros of the region at some point reached the
Pacific coast, an archeological certainty that didn't exist before
this expedition." A complete report on the expedition's findings
will be published in six months.

Source - Santiago Times (no link)


30. Venezuela: Mining Activities Halted in River Basin

FEB. 22, 2006 - In order to protect the Caroni River Basin, in the
state of Bolivar (border with Brazil),the GOV has imposed a halt on
all mining activities in Icabaru, Cuyuni, and La Paragua. According
to the press report, the permit for mining in the region expired
December 31, 2005. Mining activities performed in the water have
been forbidden as of March 10; and those mining activities on land
have a period of six months as of February 18 to terminate.
Although the military has been called upon to ensure the mining is
ended in the region, Lieutenant Colonel Jesus Vitelmo Willhem
Becerra points out that this is part of a program developed together
with all [Venezuelan] Ministries and entities concerned about the
environment and protecting the Caroni Rover basin.

Source - Diario El Progresso


31. Chevening Scholarships in Biodiversity

Chevening Scholarships bring students from all regions of the world,
including South America, to work for one year at the Center in
Cambridge, UK. Scholars are expected to work with the Center's staff
on programs ranging from managing data about ecosystems and
biodiversity, to interpreting and analyzing that data to provide
assessment and policy analysis. The work will contribute to and help
to shape national and international decision-making processes and
help to place authoritative biodiversity knowledge at the center of
decision-making. Candidates must be between 25 and 35 years of age
and be fluent in English. They must hold an undergraduate degree,
and preferably also a postgraduate degree, in a biological or
environmental science or one related to economics, GIS and the
environment. Candidates should apply on the Chevening Scholarships
form attaching a resume, publications list and cover letter
explaining why they wish to spend a year at the Center. Application
forms are available from, and should be submitted through any UK
Embassy, High Commission or British Council office, or to:

Chevening Administrator
UNEP-WCMC
219 Huntingdon Road
Cambridge CB3 0DL, UK.

Source - UNEP


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Update on Avian Influenza
--------------


32. Renowned Bird Flu Expert Warns: Be Prepared

MAR. 14, 2006 - Robert G. Webster is one of the few bird flu experts
confident enough to answer the key question: Will the avian flu
switch from posing a terrible hazard to birds to becoming a real
threat to humans? There are "about even odds at this time for the
virus to learn how to transmit human to human," he told ABC's "World
News Tonight." Webster, the Rosemary Thomas Chair at St. Jude
Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, is credited as
the first scientist to find the link between human flu and bird flu.
Webster and his team of scientists are working to find a way to
beat the virus if it morphs. He has even been dubbed the Flu Hunter.
Right now, H5N1, a type of avian influenza virus, has confined
itself to birds. It can be transmitted from bird to human but only
by direct contact with the droppings and excretions of infected
birds.

Source - ABC News


33. Flamingo Deaths Spark Bird Flu Probe in Bahamas

FEB. 28, 2006 - Health experts were dispatched on February 28 to the
southern Bahamas island of Inagua to find out if an unexplained
spate of bird deaths was linked to a deadly bird flu virus that is
spreading around the globe. Over the past two days, 15 of the
island's famed flamingos, five roseate spoonbills and one cormorant
have been found dead with no external injuries on the island just
north of Haiti, officials said. Scientists from the Bahamas
Ministry of Agriculture and the Department of Environmental Health
will gather samples from the birds and then submit them for
laboratory analysis.

NOTE: A few weeks later, the possibility of Avian Influenza in the
region was discarded

Source - Alertnet
LINEHAN