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Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-2540 • fax (307) 766-3998 • www.uwyo.edu |
For Immediate Release
Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor
Phone: (307) 766-3571
E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu
Date: Jan. 10, 2006
G&F veterinarian to represent state vet lab, G&F on ‘bird flu’ TV program
Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s new assistant veterinarian, Dr. Cynthia Tate, will represent the G&F and the Wyoming State Veterinary Laboratory during a panel discussion focusing on “bird flu” on Wyoming Public Television Jan. 19.
The Wyoming Perspectives discussion, to be broadcast live at 7 p.m., is titled “Wyoming and the Flu,” and viewers are encouraged to call in questions on the topic. The toll-free number is (800) 495-9788.
Questions can also be sent to WPTV prior to the program by e-mailing them to dan@wyoptv.org or faxing them to (307) 856-3893.
Tate’s presentation discusses the potential impact of avian influenza, also known as “bird flu,” in waterfowl and domestic birds and how that ties in to potential human risks, said Donal O’Toole, director of the WSVL and head of the University of Wyoming’s Department of Veterinary Sciences.
The veterinary sciences department in the UW College of Agriculture operates the WSVL in Laramie. Tate is stationed in the laboratory and collaborates with UW personnel on disease and research investigation.
“The program will focus on the flu – both the typical kind that goes around every year, and the pandemic, deadly kind,” said Wyoming Perspectives host MJ Clark.
The scheduled guests include Tate; Dr. Brent Sherard, director of the Wyoming Department of Health; and Dr. Mark Dowell, an infectious disease specialist from Casper.
They will discuss this year’s flu toll, how flu vaccines are made and why they sometimes don’t work, how deadly flu strains develop and what Wyoming has planned to face the next pandemic, Clark said.
O’Toole said, “The issue of how highly pathogenic avian influenza might impact our waterfowl has received little attention since so much focus is on the human disease. But it is potentially important, and folks need to have this at the back of their mind since the new H5NI (avian influenza) is pathogenic for people, domestic poultry, cats and a variety of shorebirds and waterfowl.”
Tate added, “Game and Fish biologists are trained to collect samples from wild birds, and the state veterinary lab is prepared to test those samples for avian flu.”
Following the live show, WPTV will air a program at 8 p.m. titled “Secrets of the Dead: Killer Flu,” a documentary on the worldwide flu epidemic of 1918, which killed more people in 10 months than the AIDS virus has killed in 25 years.
WPTV can be found on various channels across Wyoming. Check local listings or go to www.wyoptv.org for a complete schedule of channel numbers.
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