Unclassified 
j ' * DOCUMENT CONTROL DATA • R & D ' ‘ S 
'Sccuri (V classification of title, body of abstract and indexing annotation must be entered when the overall report Is classified) f 
1 OR Gina ting (Corporal csulh or) 
Smithsonian Institution 
Washington, D. C. 20560 
REPORT SECURITY CLASSIFICATION I 
Unclassified I 
1 
2h. GROUP ^ 1 
» REPORT TITLE 
A Serological and Ectoparasite Survey of Migrator^’' Birds in Northeast Africa'^ 
4 DESCRIPTIVE NOTES (ly-pe of report /incf inclusive dstes) 
Final Report May 15, 1966 - January 31, 1971 
j 5 A u T HO R tS» / name, middle inida}, last name) 
I George E. Watson 
56 REPORT DATE 
: February 28, 1971 
7a. TOTAL NO. OF P A <i E S 
646 
7b. NO. OF REFS 
18 
8«. CONTRACT OR GRANT NO. 
b. PROJECT NO. 
r. 
90. ORIGINATOR’S REPORT NUMBER(S> 
DA-HC 19~67-C-0008 
Final Report 
9b. OTHER REPORT NO(5) (Any other numbers that may be assigned 
this report) 
\0. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT 
This document has been approved for public release and sale; 
its distribution is unlimited. 
M. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 
Contract monitoring agency; Life Science^ 
OCRD Department of Army, Washington, 
D.C. 
12, SPONSORING MILITARY ACTIVITY 
Advanced Research Projects Agency, 
Department of Defense, 
Washington, D. C. 20301 
13 . abstract 
A survey of migratory birds, their ectoparasites and the viruses they 
carry, was conducted in the eastern Mediterranean from 1966 to 1971. The primary 
operation site has been in northern Egypt, with one year of operation in Cyprus 
and two years (bird banding and tick collection only) in Israel. Nearly 100,000 
birds have been handled; the records from eighty per cent have been computerized 
and are under study. More than 4,400 individual ticks were collected including 
two new species. Between 1966 and 1968, 3,890 individual and pooled blood samples 
were collected from 6,152 birds. 54 mouse pathogenic agents representing 7 
groups have been isolated from them demonstrating that migrating birds can trans¬ 
port live virus between continents. At least four strains are new. One, Bahig 
in the Tete Group, has been characterized; the others, including Matruh in the 
same group, are under continuing study. Blood samples from later seasons 
are frozen awaiting study but passages of 14 mouse pathogens from 6A6 erythrocyte 
specimens collected in fall, 1969 are frozen for definitive characterization. 
No viruses were Isolated from ticks during the study. Serological tests re¬ 
vealed prior infection of migratory and resident birds with a number of viruses. 
DD 
FORM 
I NO V 6 
J473 
Unclass 
Security Clsssificfition 
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