Ground Zero In The War On Bird Flu

Elizabeth Kaledin Reports From A Gov't Lab In Ames, Iowa

(CBS)  The World Health Organization said Tuesday it could not rule out the possibility of human-to-human spread of the bird flu among six Indonesians in one extended family who died from the virus.

As health officials study those cases, the U.S. government is working on its first line of defense against a pandemic.

CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Kaledin takes us inside one top research facility: the National Veterinary Services Laboratories in Ames, Iowa – ground zero for the government's battle to be ready for the bird flu if and when it arrives in the U.S.

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Kaledin: "How would you characterize your preparedness here... are you ready if this thing happens?"

Ron Morgan, of the National Veterinary Services Laboratories: "I think we're very ready of this thing happens."

The second any infected bird lands on American soil, the lab in Ames will be on Red Alert.

Surveillance teams around the country are already testing migratory birds in Alaska. If samples of the deadly virus are found, it will be up to this laboratory to diagnose it and stop it in its tracks.

"Identifying it and diagnosing it - that's job number one?" asked Kaledin, in an interview of U.S. Department of Agriculture scientist Dennis Senne.

"That's job number one," said Senne, "that's our responsibility."

There are no known cases of the bird flu in the U.S. now – but if and when any suspected cases show up, scientists will have to determine the extent of any infection. Their testing will takes live chickens, and embryos in eggs, and expose them to the virus.

If the birds die, scientists will then be able to tell if they're dealing with the deadliest strain of the disease.

If the deadliest strain of bird flu is found in this country - scientists at the Ames laboratories plan to immediately set up an intense monitoring program of both wild birds and domestic poultry in that region - to limit the spread of the disease.