In Mongolia, the PREDICT project focused on improving the national capacity for wild bird surveillance and early detection of avian influenza in order to help address threats to domestic animals and human health. Wild birds are the evolutionary hosts for influenza viruses which cause a range of signs in people from mild illness to death. FAO estimates the global economic costs of losses in the livestock/poultry sector from highly pathogenic avian influenza since 2003 are in the billions of US dollars. Located geographically where three major migratory flyways (East Asian-Australasian, Central Asian, and West Asian-East African Flyway) overlap, Mongolia is key importance in understanding the role wild birds play in the maintenance and spread of influenza viruses including highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. Within Asia, Mongolia is a particularly ideal location to study the dynamics of wild bird influenza virus because the country has very low densities of domestic poultry compared to neighboring countries, support large concentrations of waterfowl, and has important breeding, molting, and pre-migratory staging areas, thus the relative absence of poultry within the country provides a near unique opportunity to study the epidemiology of the virus in the absence of domestic influence.
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