Authorities expect to have to clear 25 to 30 tons of crane carcasses after H5N1 virus spread from northern moshav, where farmers failed to report poultry deaths on time

By SUE SURKES23 December 2021, 8:29 pm  

https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-fifth-of-wild-cranes-in-israel-thought-to-be-infected-with-fatal-bird-flu/

• The carcass of a crane, infected by avian flu, at the Hula Valley Nature Reserve in northern Israel, on December 23, 2021. (Shlomit Shavit, Israel Nature and Parks Authority)

One in five of the wild cranes living in or migrating through Israel have been infected with the fatal H5N1 bird flu virus, with authorities expecting to have to remove 25 to 30 tons of carcasses, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) said Thursday.

The virus is believed to have spread from Moshav Margaliot on the Lebanese border, where 244,000 laying hens were housed in 60 coops, supplying six million eggs monthly, out of the 200 million eggs Israelis consume each month.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, the farmers there failed to report in real-time the rising numbers of poultry deaths, leading to the virus spreading rapidly.

Many of the chickens were dead by the time ministry inspectors arrived, and the rest were culled. In one coop, only 70 chickens were found alive out of 2,000.

The farm has been sealed off, as well as facilities receiving eggs from it.Get The Times of Israel’s Daily Editionby email and never miss our top storiesNewsletter email addressGET ITBy signing up, you agree to the terms

But on Thursday, the ministry reported that it was investigating someone from the moshav suspected of having tried to smuggle eggs out to sell them privately.

‏כשמדברים איתכם על שפעת העופות והמילה “השמדה” של מיליוני עופות עוברת לכם מעל הראש, כך זה במציאות, חנק בקצף שנמשך 9 דק’,…

Posted by Tal Gilboa on Wednesday, December 22, 2021