Excellent information on this and other wildlife diseases (Field Manual of Wildlife Diseases is a good reference) can be found on the website for the National Wildlife Health Center (www.nwhc.usgs.gov) in Madison, Wisconsin. The highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza virus has caused human illness and death in other countries but is not currently in the United States. If it becomes present in waterfowl populations then hunters and other persons that handle ducks and geese would be at risk but this has not happened. Therefore, the public health risk to waterfowl hunters and others for contracting Avian Flu from wild waterfowl populations is currently low.