Iowa will be part of a national surveillance effort this fall to test wild waterfowl like ducks and geese for avian influenza. The migrating birds last spring are suspected of causing outbreaks at more than 70 poultry operations in Iowa. Kevin Baskins, spokesman for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, says trained staff members will be dispatched into a host of popular hunting areas.
Later in the winter, he says the focus will shift to the Missouri and Little Sioux River watershed. Testing actually began this summer as part of the D-N-R’s annual waterfowl banding work and will continue with hunter-harvested ducks this fall and into the winter.
Baskins says hunters should stay vigilant for signs of an outbreak.
Baskins says they are also asking hunters, if they’re in the field and they see five or more dead ducks in an area, to report that to the DNR so they can investigate that.
