#  [Partners #16-Protecting The Homeland]{.underline}

The Front Line -- 4:57

**Narrator**

This is the Winous Point Shooting Club and Marsh Conservancy in northern
Ohio. Some things haven't changed here since the club began over 150
years ago. Hunters still travel by hand-crafted wooden prams,
custom-made for these waters. And they continue to hunt migratory
ducks-the same species that have been returning to the marsh for
decades. But at the end of the day, these hunters divert from tradition.
They now, on occasion, voluntarily submit their ducks for inspection.

**Richard Slemons-The Ohio State University**

We've worked collaboratively with wildlife biologists here in Ohio, and
our hunters have been very patient and accepting of us.

**Narrator**

Richard Slemons is a professor of veterinary medicine at the Ohio State
University. He has tracked avian influenza in wild birds for over 30
years.

**Richard Slemons**

We need to get our hands on a fair number of birds fairly quickly to
conserve time and resources. And the hunters in check stations will come
in and bring their birds in. Now with the emergence of the Asian strain
of high-pathogen H5N1 avian influenza virus-now we're starting to
re-look at what viruses are in wild birds more systematically and in a
coordinated effort.

**Narrator**

H5N1 is the Type A virus causing all the buzz in the news lately, and
with good reason. It has started to spread to domestic poultry flocks in
countries around the world. This could have serious consequences for the
US economy. When a highly pathogenic virus hit the poultry industry here
in 1983, it cost \$60 million dollars to eradicate, and an estimated
\$350 million dollars in increased consumer costs. Over 17 million birds
died or were euthanized. But since then, some things have changed before
the appearance of H5N1 in Asia.

**Richard Slemons**

Early isolation and detection will let us isolate the area and eradicate
the virus very efficiently. Still, if it gets into our poultry industry,
that particular flock or that particular geographical area will be
impacted because their market will be lost and they will have to destroy
and eradicate the virus. If the virus became widespread in the US
poultry industry, it would be devastating to our economy.

**Narrator**

And there are other concerns. People have died from H5N1 in
bird-to-human contact. But the real fear is that the virus could mutate
to where infection occurs from person-to-person. History has shown that
this could be disastrous.

**Johns Hopkins 1957 film host**

Analysis showed the virus to be Type A, but it was different from any of
the previously-known Type A strains.

**Narrator**

This Johns Hopkins University film was released in response to the
1950's Asian Flu pandemic. 75,000 Americans died from the disease.
Earlier in the century, 700,000 lost their lives in the 1918 pandemic.

In response to the potential danger of H5N1 and other influenza viruses,
the Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service awarded
\$5 million for the Avian Influenza Coordinated Agricultural Project,
known as the AI-CAP grant. It funds researchers and Extension
specialists in 25 states.

**Daniel Perez-University of Maryland**

CSREES was ahead of its time in terms of devising this network research
structure.

**Narrator**

The scope of the program is wide and varied. Daniel Perez, the AI-Cap
Grant's director, shows the project's web site that features educational
outreach in an effort to help train others on avian influenza.

**Daniel Perez**

It is in land-grant universities that students and post-docs and young
investigators are becoming prepared to study influenza, to fight
influenza, to contain influenza. And it's thanks to this network that we
are able to provide the structure that is needed to produce those human
resources.

**Narrator**

From various USDA agencies, including APHIS and the Agricultural
Research Service, to refuge managers - from land-grant universities to
hunters -- this diverse team is tackling the problem in a concerted
effort.

**Richard Slemon**

So this is our network. And this let's us track viruses down each of the
flyways and understand where the viruses are going. The earlier we
detect it, the quicker we isolate those birds and deal with them
appropriately --the less it will cost us in the United States.