Dr. Peter Tran, animal health veterinarian for the Washington Dept. of Agriculture, takes a swab of a rooster being held by Jacob Bischoff, 11, of Burbank, Wash., background, as he tests birds for avian flu at the Benton Franklin Fair & Rodeo on Monday, Aug. 21, 2006, in Kennewick, Wash. Tran was visiting county fairs across the state.
Laurence Schafer, left, a wildlife biologist with the USDA, and Brad Otto from the Washington State Dept. of Fish and Wildlife, carry two captured mallards from a trap prior to testing them for H5N1 influenza at the Skagit Wildlife Area near Conway, Wash., on Aug. 16, 2006. Agency field personnel are collecting swab samples from the wild birds for early detection of bird flu in migratory birds.
Ron DeHaven, administrator of Agriculture Department's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, gestures at a news conference in Washington, D.C. Aug. 14, 2006. Scientists discovered the possible presence of bird flu in the U.S. in wild swans near the banks of Lake Erie. It doesn't appear to be the worrisome strain that the government has long feared that has ravaged poultry and killed at least 138 people overseas.
Pelicans fly over the sea at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge, June 22, 2006, near Calipatria, Calif. The entire U.S. mainland and all its territories in the Pacific are now being watched for migratory birds that might be carrying the bird flu virus. Monitoring began just before summer in Alaska when Asian birds began arriving there. Droppings from birds and the ground where they land is being checked.
A group of roosters on the roof of the Key West Aquarium in Key West, Fla., Tuesday, April 18, 2006. City commissioners approved a citywide roundup of the estimated population of 3,000 birds due to the possible threat of avian flu. The resolution calls for removing birds from city streets and parks, and from private property upon request.
Patricia Cochran, director of the Alaska Native Science Commission, talks about effects that a bird flu pandemic would have on Alaska Native communities during a pandemic influenza summit in Anchorage on April 13, 2006. State, local and tribal organizations gathered to discuss preparations for a possible flu pandemic in Alaska.
A live chicken at Dakao Poultry is swabbed to test it for bird flu on April 6, 2006, in Midway, Calif. The state of California has been conducting a voluntary program to test birds for avian flu.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks to The Associated Press in Washington on April 11, 2006, about plans to defend the American population against a potential bird-flu outbreak. With migrating birds now carrying the H5N1 bird-flu strain, scientists have warned that an infected bird may reach the United States sometime this year.
State microbiologist Sara Watt talks about the lab where bird flu testing will take place at the new Alaska Environmental Health Lab in Anchorage, April 14, 2006. Scientists believe the first reported case of the Asian H5N1 virus in the United States will likely show up in Alaska, brought in by migratory birds from Russia and Southeast Asia. The lab is the state's latest defense on the front lines of bird flu.
A sticker meant to head off any concerns about eating chicken if bird flu spreads to the United States now appears on the lid of every bucket of chicken sold by KFC in this country, as seen Tuesday, April 25, 2006, in Louisville, Ky., home of Yum Brands Inc., the parent of KFC.
The Bush administration releases its bird-flu response plan, Wednesday, May 3, 2006, in Washington. The plan catalogs steps that the government, businesses and citizens should take if a deadly strain reaches U.S. shores.
The Jaindl Farm in Orefield, Pa., which raises approximently 750,000 turkeys per year, is shown on Wednesday, May 3, 2006. State public health officials say they have been preparing intensively for a flu pandemic that in a worst-case scenario could strike nearly 13 percent of the population and cause some 9,000 deaths statewide.
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine, center right, talks with Richard Canas, director of the state Department of Homeland Security and Preparedness, during an exercise on May 3, 2006, in Ewing, N.J. Corzine and state police, homeland security, health and agriculture officials spent nearly four hours playing out how the state would react to a pandemic flu that spreads across the world and into New Jersey.
Cornish Cross Boiler chicks feed while on display at Orscheln Farm and Home in Lincoln, Neb., on April 14, 2006. On May 4, the federal government awarded more than $1 billion to five drug manufacturers that are developing technology for speedier mass production of vaccines in case of a avian flu pandemic. The goal is to be able to distribute vaccine to every American within six months of a pandemic striking.
John Steen, a broiler tech advisor at Tyson Foods Inc., dons protective gear as he checks the water line inside a chicken house outside of Springdale, Ark., May 5, 2006. U.S. poultry growers are concerned that a new disaster movie about bird flu will scare off business.
Public health workers Sonya Tinsley, Gloria Miller and Judy Smith, from left, wear some of the 450,000 surgical masks purchased by the Alabama Dept. of Public Health for health care workers in case of bird flu, June 1, 2006, in Decatur, Ala. In case of a bird flu pandemic, officials would close schools, discourage churches from meeting, cancel college sporting events and hand out masks to parts of the general population.