Getting your player ready...
Brigham City, Utah – A state biologist takes a fecal sample from a tundra swan and sends it to a lab.
It is a small but significant step to determine if bird flu has reached Utah.
There is no sign that the deadly Asian strain has hit U.S. soil, but the possibility is keeping wildlife officials in Utah on the perch.
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said it has samples from 1,180 birds and hopes to have 120 more when duck-hunting season ends Jan. 20.
The state is taking fecal samples from ducks shot at Farmington Bay and Migratory Bird Refuge. They include tundra swans, northern pintails and northern shovelers.
At least 154 people have been killed from the H5N1 virus since it turned up in Asia in 2003.
