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# County Tests Douglas Park Ducks for Bird Flu, Finds No H5N1
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/bird-testing/
- Published: 2007-01-17T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T23:50:50.000Z
- Author: Kevin Herrera
- Tags: Health, Santa Monica, #archive-import

*CLEAN BILLS: Local ducks show no signs of avian flu virus No harm, some fowl*

DOUGLAS PARK County health officials have given ducks here a clean bill of health, at least when it comes to the deadly avian flu virus.

After testing the fowls’ feces over the last several months, Emily Beeler, a veterinarian with the Los Angeles County Department of Health, found no signs of “highly pathogenic H5N1,” more commonly known as bird flu.

The testing, which will continue until August, is being funded by a pandemic flu grant from the Center for Disease Control.

“We’re testing in a few different places in the county that are geographically spread apart so we can sample where wild water fowl land and defecate so we can get fresh samples, not just old samples,” Beeler said. “Santa Monica, since it has so many mallards, is a good testing area. Mallard ducks are a good bird to monitor for avian flu viruses.”

Avian flu caught the attention of millions worldwide in October 2004, when researchers discovered that H5N1 is far more dangerous than previously believed and was being spread by waterfowl to chickens, crows and pigeons. The virus also showed an increasing ability to infect mammals as well, including humans.

A total of 157 people have died as a result of contracting the virus, most in Indonesia and Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization.

Scientists fear that as the virus mutates, it could be spread more easily amongst humans, leading to an outbreak that could kills anywhere between 5 million to 150 million people.

At least 12 companies and 17 governments are developing pre-pandemic influenza vaccines in 28 different clinical trials that, if successful, could turn a deadly pandemic infection into a non-deadly one.

Beeler stressed that none of the ducks tested showed signs of the deadly strand, however, some have other viruses.

“They’re found to carry a number of flu viruses,” Beeler said. “The vast majority are mild and do not infect people at all.”

Feces from ducks has long been a concern of city officials, who must drain the ponds at Douglas park annually to clean them. If not, the feces can cause algae to grow and kill plants, which the ducks depend on to survive. The ponds are scheduled to be drained in February or March, city staff said.

Because the ducks are protected by state and federal laws, city staff must be very careful in how they deal with them. The ducks cannot be disturbed when they are nesting, and special permits are needed to trap them. City staff has, for the most part, left the ducks alone, allowing them to come and go as they please.

“The ducks are a nice feature for a lot of people out there,” said Elaine Polachek, the open space manager for City Hall. “We just have to manage them.”

To do that, city staff is looking at installing a series of drainage pipes so that the ponds can be cleaned one at a time, allowing the ducks to migrate from one pond to another and not be without water. Some residents complained last year when City Hall drained all three ponds around the time that some ducklings had hatched.

“We are trying to also educate the community that while it is fun to come to the park, and the kids really like feeding the ducks, is a problem,” Polachek said.“There is plenty of food for the ducks.

“The plant material within the pond is what they eat, so bringing Cheetos really is a disservice to the ducks.”

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 17, 2007.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/011707.pdf?ref=smdp.com)