Amanda Fine, director of WCS in Mongolia, said that a variety of migratory species have been tested, all showing negative results. However, more conclusive testing will be conducted in the United States in October.

The current group of scientists, working as part of the Global Avian Influenza Network for Surveillance (GAINS) program, is currently testing species in Khovsgol province before traveling to western Mongolia and Uvs Lake to finish testing by early October.

In 2005 the United States Department of Agriculture confirmed over 100 cases of bird flu in Mongolia. However, testing and monitoring conducted in early 2006 by the Mongolian Central Veterinary Laboratory found only one case in a wild whooper swan in Bulgan province in north central Mongolia.

B. Batzorig of the Central Veterinary Hospital of the Ministry of Agriculture said that for 2006, the highest risk area has been Bulgan province; however it could only truly be determined by further observation and testing.

“If we find more cases, we will send the birds to Japan for final testing,” he commented. “Some of the high risk bird species will not return until September or October.”

More than 50 people have died from the H5N1 virus in Southeast Asia, but Dr. Shur at the Center for Infectious Diseases said there have been no official cases of humans contracting the H5N1 virus in Mongolia.