The United States at the time suspected that the international spread of Japanese encephalitis was related to animal migration and asked thirteen countries in Southeast Asia, including the R.O.C., to take part in a pathological survey of migratory animals, the main focus of which was birds.
當時美國懷疑日本腦炎跨國流行，是與移棲動物有關，於是邀約包括我國在內的東亞十三個國家，展開「移棲性動物病理學調查」計畫，主要繫放的對象就是鳥類。