Two otherwise docile ducks briefly squirmed, quacked and flapped webbed feet in protest as they endured the indignity of being tested for a dangerous bird flu at the James Campbell National Wildlife Refuge yesterday.

The tests at the 260-acre refuge near Kahuku launched an ambitious and unprecedented national inter-agency effort by wildlife management and agricultural health communities to capture and test some 3,500 wild migratory birds in the Pacific between now and next April.

"This is the largest effort ever for surveillance of a wildlife disease in North American history," said Kenneth Foote, information and education specialist for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in Honolulu and the event coordinator.

He was careful to point out that the program is an early detection effort, and not a cause for alarm.

"We currently have no evidence that highly pathogenic H5N1 bird flu virus is present in Hawai'i or the Pacific islands either in wild or domestic birds," he said. "And we have no reason to believe there's currently a heightened health risk to either wildlife or people in Hawai'i or the Pacific islands because of this virus.

"But we do have a responsibility to be on the lookout for the arrival and plan for the potential outbreak of the virus in wild birds, even though we still don't know for certain what role wild birds play in the transportation of this virus."

Foote also noted that bird flu potentially could arrive in the Islands in ways other than through migratory birds — such as in imported poultry or birds smuggled in by travelers.

High pathogenicity avian influenza has been found in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, but has never reached North America. The strain is often fatal to domesticated fowl.

Bird viruses usually do not infect people. However, a few cases of human infection have occurred since 1997 — most often traced to people who have had close contact with infected poultry.

TARGETED BIRDS

The Pacific surveillance program will target waterfowl and shorebirds, such as the Pacific golden-plover (kolea), that are common and abundant and winter in both Asia and the Pacific.

Secondary and tertiary target species would be North American breeders or birds well sampled in the Pacific flyway, and birds that commingle with or prey on infected primary and secondary species.

Michael Silbernagle, wildlife biologist and refuge officer for O'ahu's National Wildlife Refuge Complex, said the Hawai'i team would operate at the O'ahu refuge with refuge personnel providing ground help in monitoring the birds.

"We are not new to the surveillance arena," said Silbernagle. "Since we are tasked with managing water birds, we are always in a mode to detect either injured, sick or dead birds. So, we were a logical partner."

The actual capturing and testing will be conducted by several three-person field teams. One O'ahu team, for example, will consist of two people with the state Department of Natural Resources and one person from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Fish and Wildlife Service specialists Dr. Jeff Burgett and Jenny Hoskins demonstrated the method that will be used to test up to 3,500 wild birds between now and next April for bird flu.

"And one of the main ways we sample these birds for the presence of the virus is to do what's called a cloacal swab, where we take a sterile swab sample from the bird's rear end, or cloaca, and submit that to a lab for later testing," said Burgett, holding a mallard delicately in his arms as Hoskins performed the test.

Hoskins then dropped the sample into a container of liquid nitrogen to be sent to a lab in Madison, Wis., which will do testing for the Department of Interior samples.

Testing for USDA samples will be done here in Hawai'i, said Dr. Chris Whelen, director of state laboratories for the Department of Health.

"The Department of Health has interest in all aspects of avian influenza, particularly surveillance efforts in animals," said Whelen, "because the early detection would alert us to the virus in the Islands. We'd have initial indication that we need to start preparing our response plans, to protect the poultry here in Hawai'i, native birds, as well as human health."

Whelen said Hawai'i's geographic isolation could be a benefit when it comes to the threat of avian flu. Since Hawai'i does not fall in a major flyway for migratory waterfowl, the chance of the virus reaching Hawai'i that way could be remote.

BETTER TO BE VIGILANT

Scott Fretz, wildlife program manager for the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Forestry and Wildlife, said if the disease ever reached the Islands, it could adversely impact various species of native birds.

"Our job is to participate with the partnership primarily to provide technical help with the field work — to capture the birds at various locations in the Islands. This is going to be tough because of the number of birds that need to be caught and tested. Probably the biggest challenge is getting enough numbers of some of the harder species to capture."

Burgett reiterated that although its unlikely that bird flu could arrive here, it's better to be vigilant.

"A positive sample would be big news because, of course, this hasn't occurred anywhere in the United States. There's a lot of concern by the poultry industry as well as human health folks about the ramifications of discovering this. We don't expect it to occur."

If it did, early detection would give officials time to prepare the appropriate responses.

How can the average person be of help?

"If you see a dead waterfowl call 211 — the Aloha United Way help line," said Burgett. "Say 'I have a dead bird,' and follow the instructions so someone from our teams can test it."

Reach Will Hoover at whoover@honoluluadvertiser.com.