Why would Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists based in Athens, Georgia, travel to countries like Mongolia and Nigeria to help control outbreaks of avian influenza? What’s in it for U.S. farmers and taxpayers?
The answer is plenty.
Outbreaks almost always originate with infected waterfowl, usually ducks, which can migrate from one country to the next.
“Waterfowl networks are all interconnected, so if we can help control avian flu overseas, it is less likely to show up in the United States,” says David Swayne, director of the ARS Southeast Poultry Research Laboratory in Athens.
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