Iowa lab stands ready in US bird flu battle

AMES, Iowa, May 25 (Reuters) Dressed in lab coats, latex gloves and protective eye wear, scientists at the National Veterinary Services Laboratory in Iowa stand at the center of the US battle against avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu.

Should suspicions of bird flu arise in US flocks or wild birds, this is the nerve center where final testing would confirm or refute the presence of the disease.

''Ours is the final word,'' said Brundaban Panigrahy, head of the laboratory's avian viruses section.

If the more deadly bird flu strain, which is now only overseas, is found, the Ames laboratory would alert Washington.

''Our laboratory serves as the reference laboratory for USDA. Our laboratory confirms all outbreaks of avian influenza,'' said Dennis Senne, a microbiologist at the facility.

On Tuesday, the laboratory, which is a unit of the US Agriculture Department, held an open house for the news media that included demonstrations on treating chickens and eggs to determine reactions to viruses.

Demand for the laboratory's testing for bird flu has increased following an increase in government funding to keep the disease out or to fight it in a possible US outbreak. The greater funding has produced more surveillance, and that surveillance has increased testing, said Beverly Schmitt, director of diagnostics.

There are many strains of bird flu -- some serious, some not. It is the serious ones, particularly the deadly H5N1 strain, that have these scientists as well as the US government worried.

H5N1 has spread through Asia, Africa and Europe, and has killed 124 people since 2003. It has never been found in the United States, but scientists and agriculture officials believe migratory birds or imported birds could bring it here.

Currently, the virus is spread from birds to people. Scientists are worried the virus could mutate and spread from people to people.

If that happens, they believe millions would be at risk.

The World Health Organisation said yesterday that limited human-to-human transmission of bird flu might have occurred in an Indonesian family, which rattled financial markets.

Concern has been growing about the case in north Sumatra in which seven family members from Kubu Sembilang village died this month.

The case is the largest family cluster known to date.

Meanwhile, China said yesterday it had confirmed an outbreak of H5N1 among wild birds in remote far-western Qinghai province and in Tibet. China has reported almost 40 outbreaks of bird flu in poultry across a dozen provinces over the past year.

US HAS TACKLED LESS HARMFUL AVIAN FLU STRAINS Should US tests ever discover H5N1, the Iowa laboratory would notify USDA in Washington and USDA would then inform the World Organisation for Animal Health in Paris.

''Our responsibility is to pass that information on to (Washington) DC,'' said Beth Lautner, the laboratory's director.

US Congress recently approved 3.8 billion dollars to fight bird flu, and that funding has led to increased surveillance.

''We have increased our staff because we have greater demand for materials to perform the diagnostic tests and also because of increased testing because of the increased surveillance,'' said Schmitt.

The bird flu unit of the Ames facility is solely for locating, identifying, and isolating the virus.

''We are not into vaccine production -- that is another area,'' said Lautner.

Low-pathogenic flu strains, which are the less harmful versions, have occurred in the United States. These outbreaks have resulted in the destruction of flocks amid worries the strain could evolve into a more dangerous one.

The previous outbreaks have helped the government prepare for a more dangerous virus, Senne said.

''We have a lot of experience dealing with outbreaks in poultry, either from flu or Newcastle disease,'' said Senne, referring to the highly contagious Newcastle virus which can be fatal for poultry but causes, at worst, a minor illness in humans. ''We have the machinery, it's well-oiled. We have a plan. We can respond, and I think we are in pretty good shape.'' Reuters DKS GC0958