Migrating bird flu bug creates jitters about flying critters.

Byline: INSIDE THE OUTDOORS By Mike Stahlberg The Register-Guard

The sky is not falling. Repeat, the sky is NOT falling.

Nonetheless, outdoor lovers may someday have just cause to be - dare we say it? - a little "chicken" about being around ducks, geese and other critters of the sky.

Especially if Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza virus H5N1 is ever found hitch-hiking on migrating waterfowl in the Pacific Flyway.

H5N1, which is getting more publicity than any bug since Y2K, is a strain of a strain of bird flu.

World health officials are concerned the virus might mutate into a more contagious form, triggering a pandemic and killing millions of people worldwide. The virus currently can be contracted by humans in close contact with infected chickens or other domestic birds. But so far it hasn't spread from human to human.

There also is no evidence to date of a human acquiring the virus from a wild bird.

The H5N1 virus was first discovered in China in 1996. Spread by migratory birds, it is now in eastern Europe and northern Africa, as well as Asia.

Some bird species from southern Asia share northern nesting areas with birds from the Pacific Flyway, making the Alaska/Yukon area a potential doorway for its eventual spread to North America.

If birds from the West Coast become infected, waterfowl hunters potentially would be among the first humans in North America to encounter those birds and be exposed to H5N1.

According to a recent report in The Oregonian, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists have had some informal internal discussions about the possibility of "closing all duck and goose hunting this fall in an effort to combat avian flu." The USFWS sets the groundrules for migratory bird hunts.

Greece has already banned waterfowl hunting, but other European countries have not, according to a recent British Broadcasting Corporation update on the virus.

Waterfowl hunters, however, are not in the most vulnerable position. They, at least, will know what they could be dealing with and can take steps to protect themselves.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, like many wildlife agencies, suggests precautions for anyone handling wild birds.

In a paper on "What Hunters Should Know About Avian Flu," the ODFW advises people to "wear rubber gloves and washable clothing when cleaning game." You should also wash hands, tools and working surfaces with soap, water and disinfectant when finished. Cooking poultry completely is also important.

Because "viruses like H5N1 are shed from birds in fluid discharges and fecal material ... it is good practice to avoid contact with these materials while plucking and cleaning birds," the ODFW says.

Which brings us to a group of people who could be much more at risk than hunters - if H5N1 ever actually starts falling out of the sky.

Those would be park visitors, according to ODFW wildlife biologist Bill Castillo of Springfield.

"Musing about what might happen if the avian flu virus started showing up in waterfowl," Castillo said, he concluded that "parks could be real hot spots" when it comes to "the potential for exposure."

Wild ducks and geese are attracted to parks by "the feeding that goes on and the decoying that occurs with a bunch of domesticated birds" hanging around waiting to be fed, Castillo said.

Droppings left behind by infected birds would put the virus on lawns and sidewalks. From there, the journey to shoes or clothing to hands and beyond is not difficult to imagine.

"I would think that's something that would definitely be a concern," he said of waterfowl in parks.

Meanwhile, all the talk about bird flu "has sure taken focus off the (mosquito-borne) West Nile Virus," Castillo said. "That's starting to sound pretty harmless by comparison."

Remember, the sky is not falling. It's just full of bugs that you might want to know about.

Mike Stahlberg can be reached at mstahlberg @guardnet.com.