Position Statement on Avian Influenza
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Species
Avian Flu is spreading over the world, with possible deadly effects on humans. Wetlands International urges that a world wide system for monitoring HPAI in wild birds be put in place. Practical measures should focus on the control of movements of domestic poultry .
Wetlands International has taken the initiative to bring virologists, ornithologists and modellers together, in order to develop a world wide system for monitoring Avian Influenza in wild birds and to unravel possible mechanisms of disease transmission. This initiative is developed in close contact with the European Union (EU), World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) as well as with international nature conservation bodies such as the Ramsar Convention, the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the African-Eurasian Waterbird Agreement (AEWA), BirdLife International and International Council for Game & Wildlife Conservation (CIC). We seek cooperation with like minded bodies to enhance this important work.