Smuggled Pets Worry Bird Flu Watchdogs

A worker disposes of dead chickens believed to be infected with the H7 strain of the bird flu virus at a farm on the outskirts of North Tuddenham, England, Sunday, April 30, 2006. The bird flu virus has been found on three farms in eastern England, but preliminary tests indicate the chickens were not suffering from the deadly H5N1 strain, according to government officials on Saturday. (AP Photo/Andrew Parsons, PA) (Andrew Parsons - AP)

About 330,000 live birds were imported into the United States in 2004. Just 374 were denied entry, suggesting smugglers may focus on different routes.

The ones denied entry came mainly from Mexico, Guyana and Ghana. The biggest sources of live birds were Canada, with 117,000; Taiwan, 50,000; Tanzania, nearly 40,000; and Belgium, 24,000.

The U.S. banned imports of all live birds, bird parts and bird products from Cambodia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam in February 2004. Since then, the ban has been expanded to any country or region where bird flu is thought to exist.

"The borders are where the increased emphasis needs to be," said Simon Habel, director of TRAFFIC North America, which works closely with the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, based in Geneva, Switzerland.

"There's an endless string of clever ways people try to bring birds and animals into the country," said Habel, whose trade-monitoring network is a joint program of the World Wildlife Fund and IUCN-The World Conservation Union.

More than 200 Fish and Wildlife Service special agents also do old-fashioned police work to try to stop the trade. "The problem is illegal trade that's underground, where smugglers are bypassing that whole structure of quarantine and permits," said Nicholas Throckmorton, an agency spokesman.

An additional 120 agency field officers inspect wildlife shipments at 35 ports, airports and other locations, alongside Customs and Border Patrol officials. The State Department hopes to also enlist private businesses in that effort.

"The labeling on these items that come in _ people don't tell the truth about what's in them," McMurray said. "That's part of the reason why I want to talk to the airlines, the shippers, the FedExes and the UPSes of the world and say, 'Help us with this.'"

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On the Net:

State Department: http://www.state.gov/g/oes

Fish and Wildlife Service: http://www.fws.gov

TRAFFIC: http://www.traffic.org