WALLA WALLA -- When a dozen-or-so video and print newshounds crept close to gawk with open lenses, the four mallards in the semi-submerged, wire trap quacked, flapped and splashed with noticeable agitation.

One frenetic fowl somehow worked its way into the small end of the whole-corn baited, funnel-style trap, slipped through the larger opening and flew quacking away.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife experts simply aimed to examine, tag and test them for a highly pathogenic avian flu virus before tossing them into free flight.

The virus, a serious strain of avian flu that hurdled from birds to humans in Asia about a decade ago, continues to pose important questions for wildlife and health specialists.

Nevertheless, the mallards trapped for testing recently at Winchester Wasteway, a swampy area west of Moses Lake, apparently preferred to be elsewhere.

Yet, each duck's demeanor changed significantly after being lifted from a trap, placed into a holding cage and carried 50 yards to the test station.

That's when WDFW waterfowl specialist Mikal Moore cradled each duck in the crook of her arm, and it either relaxed or, as one harsh newshound suggested, it resigned itself to its fate.

Either way, the mallards lay quietly while Moore explained steps of the test that include identifying the species (she knows her waterfowl), sex (orange bills for females of a certain age; other more technical markings, or, if necessary, a more probing examination) and age (feather development and wear, size, weight, etc.).

"They become quite docile in hand," Moore said with a smile as she banded a leg of each bird while explaining how bands often reveal key information about the birds' travel patterns, susceptibility to predators and hunters and so on.

She inserted a swab into the puckered end of each duck and swabbed material from an intestinal wall, "because that's where the virus would be."

"Taking the sample doesn't hurt them," Mansfield said. "We put it in a bio-transport medium and put it on ice. We either ship it immediately to the lab for testing, or we put it into liquid nitrogen (to freeze it) until we get a batch big enough for shipment.

Moore began similar testing at Moses Lake/Ephrata area sites the first of August. That program will continue through the winter, until the birds move south.

The testing involves a number of wild bird species (including mallards, wigeons. green-winged teal, shovelers, sea ducks, western sandpipers and dunlin), depending on migration patterns.

As Mansfield explained, this highly pathogenic H5N1 virus apparently first occurred in Hong Kong in 1996. By 2005, it spread to other parts of Southeast Asia, including Vietnam and Cambodia.

Yet, as scary as such developments sound, Mansfield pointed out that only about 200 human infections have been reported in Asia and Europe out of the millions of humans exposed to the virus.

"That's really a very small number," Mansfield said. "It's tragic that 130-140 of the 200 people infected died, but that's not a huge public-health concern. The concern is that the virus could change to the point that it can be passed efficiently between birds and humans and then between humans.

"Almost all of the cases have been from very close prolonged contact with sick poultry," Mansfield added. "And there are very limited instances of sick people passing it on to other people.

"Another concern is that it could combine with a normal human virus," she added. "We have human viruses that circulate every year in the United States and kill 30,000 people."

Moore, who attends her traps every day of the week and often on weekends, considers her work on the project as an "early detection effort," which is part of a nationwide surveillance program. A special effort tests dead birds, when possible, especially if deaths occur in unexpected numbers.

If the highly pathogenic avian flu were to be detected in her region of the Pacific Flyway, "other protocols would be put into place," Moore said.

"It's difficult to be specific about the response plan because we are not a public health agency," Moore said. "WDFW is involved in the early detection plan because the (highly pathogenic) H5N1 virus may show up in North America through wild birds.

"However, it's unrealistic to think we could achieve any kind of containment of infected wild bird populations," she continued. "The detection of the virus will be the cue for public health agencies to institute plans to inform and protect people who may come into contact with the virus and for the USDA to increase biosecurity of domestic poultry flocks."

Mansfield said 380 samples have been collected in Western Washington and results returned for 203 of them, with one western sandpiper testing positive for a low-pathogenic avian flu.

"That's not a surprise," she said. "Many birds carry avian flu. There are 144 different combinations, and we're concerned with one, the highly pathogenic H5N1."

Of nearly 300 birds trapped in the Ephrata area and the 60 samples sent to the lab so far about 50 have been returned. Twelve birds have tested positive for avian flu, but none with the H5N1 strain.

Yet, Matt Monda, WDFW Northcentral Region Wildlife Program Manager, said people who handle wild animals, especially hunters, should take the precautions normally recommended by the WDFW.

"We're not telling hunters anything different," Monda said. "When cooking, heat the meat up to an adequate temperature (about 165 degrees); take care when gutting and handling animals and birds (wear rubber gloves); wash hands and knives with soap and water.

As Madonna Luers, the WDFW's Eastern Washington Public Information Officer, said, however, the potential for American birds to mingle with contaminated Asian and European birds and contract the H5N1 virus does exist.

"In Alaska or Northern Canada, North American birds would be mixing during the spring and summer with birds from Asia," she said. "In Alaska, they've been testing for a couple of years, and they've found nothing yet."

That could change, of course, and that's why it's nice to know Moore and her colleagues work nearly every day at their early detection effort.

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