# Sentinel Chickens Guarding Australia from Disease

**URL:** <https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/sentinel-chickens-guarding-australia-from-disease/2616>\
**Category:** Context\
**Tags:** australia, sentinel-chicken, mosquito-borne-disease\
**Created:** [17 January 2023 13:54 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/sentinel-chickens-guarding-australia-from-disease/2616 "2023-01-17T13:54:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/user_avatar/scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/johnwalker/32/17415_2.png) [@johnwalker](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/johnwalker)\
**Post date:** [17 January 2023 13:54 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/sentinel-chickens-guarding-australia-from-disease/2616/1 "2023-01-17T13:54:37Z")

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[![](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/uploads/default/original/2X/d/dbdb8e42c5d5295fe884061b5325d7f750165e69.jpeg "These chickens save lives.") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSrO55KS6VY)

“Sentinel Chicken” sounds like an unsuccessful spin-off of _[Crusader Rabbit](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crusader_Rabbit)_, but in New South Wales, Australia, it’s a thing, with [sentinel chicken surveillance](https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/mosquito-borne/Pages/surveillance.aspx#chicken) a part of the health department’s [mosquito-borne disease surveillance](https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/mosquito-borne/Pages/surveillance.aspx) programme. The chickens, which are mosquito magnets, are regularly tested for the presence of antibodies for [flaviviruses](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flavivirus) such as Murray Valley Encephalitis, Japanese Encephalitis and Kunjin viruses.

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**Author:** ![Mooselake](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/user_avatar/scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/mooselake/32/5958_2.png) [@Mooselake](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/u/Mooselake)\
**Post date:** [17 January 2023 16:56 UTC](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/t/sentinel-chickens-guarding-australia-from-disease/2616/2 "2023-01-17T16:56:09Z")

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Every wonder what a million mosquitos [looks like](https://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2022/02/18/fl-lee-county-million-mosquitos-affil-pkg-vpx.wink)? Scarily this is only one island over from where we spend winters

 ![image](https://scanalyst.fourmilab.ch/uploads/default/original/2X/e/ebcf070cefee90b279dd5c68bf74a61427b37885.jpeg)