Prevalence of Influenza A viruses in wild migratory birds in Alaska: patterns of variation in detection at a crossroads of intercontinental flyways.

Background: The global spread of the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 virus has stimulated interest in a better understanding of the mechanisms of H5N1 dispersal, including the potential role of migratory birds as carriers. Although wild birds have been found dead during H5N1 outbreaks, evidence suggests that others have survived natural infections, and recent studies have shown several species of ducks capable of surviving experimental inoculations of H5N1 and shedding virus. To investigate the possibility of migratory birds as a means of H5N1 dispersal into North America, we monitored for the virus in a surveillance program based on the risk that wild birds may carry the virus from Asia.

Biomonitoring of contaminants in birds from two trophic levels in the North Pacific.

The presence and accumulation of persistent contaminants at high latitudes from long-range transport is an important environmental issue. Atmospheric transport has been identified as the source of pollutants in several arctic ecosystems and has the potential to severely impact high-latitude populations. Elevated levels of contaminants in Aleutian Island avifauna have been documented, but the great distance from potential industrial sources and the region's complex military history have confounded identification of contaminant origins.