GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) – The Delta County Sheriffs Office says that it has found the remains of a duck hunter who went missing in December of last year.
Wayne Phillips, a 51-year-old Montrose resident, went missing while on a hunt on Dec. 21, 2022 in the area of South River Road. His truck, hunting dog, and some personal items were found by his wife and son and an extensive search was performed by foot and by air, but search efforts were called off due to weather nine days later.
Close to two months later, the Delta County Sheriff’s Office says it received a 911 call reporting a body in the Gunnison River. The body was confirmed to be Phillips’ following its recovery. The cause of…
Seven sheep — some with tags on their ears and a red spot on their wool coats, marks used to signify when animals are for slaughter — escaped from a slaughterhouse into Paterson, New Jersey, on Monday, according to WABC-TV.
Residents spotted six of the wooly animals roaming around River Street near a Dunkin’ Donuts and a Sealy Mattress store and called animal control to pick them up.
According to the news station, one sheep even made a break for it, running a few miles north to Hawthorne, New Jersey, before it was captured in nearby Fair Lawn.
“The Paterson Police Department did a phenomenal job. We took two of the sheep, and ended up putting them in the back of a police car. We escorted them up here with their lights and [sirens] on,” John DeCando with Paterson Animal Control told WABC-TV.
Paterson Animal Control decided that the brave sheep would not return to the slaughterhouse and instead contacted Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue in Sussex County for assistance. The facility agreed to take the fluffy animals in and care for them for the rest of their lives, per the news station.
“It’s a great feeling knowing that [the sheep are] not going to be on someone’s plate,” DeCando said.
Paterson Animal Control did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for additional details about the rescue.
Mike, a Skylands Animal Sanctuary and Rescue employee, told the station that the sheep likely hadn’t had the best life.
“These guys, I hate to say, at no time have they gotten on a trail or has their life gotten better,” he said.
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However, the animals now have something to look forward to — a barn of their own on a 600-acre sanctuary.
Andrew Joslin and Linda Amato of Cape Ann Wildlife had to capture a bald eagle Monday in a cemetery in Arlington, Massachusetts; the bird of prey will undergo intense treatment
A critically ill bald eagle has died, days after it was captured by wildlife experts in Massachusetts in an attempt to save it from a likely case of poisoning.
Referred to as M.K., the eagle began to bleed internally Tuesday night, the center said Wednesday, calling it a “catastrophic” spontaneous hemorrhaging. Veterinarians quickly tried to clear the bird’s airway but she quickly died.
“It was always hard to watch a patient in this condition, but MK was particularly devastating. We know how well loved she is here in the Baystate and how many people her presence inspired to connect with our natural environments and the wildlife in them,” the center’s post said.
Bald Eagle Rescued After Being Sickened by Rat Poison
Wildlife experts had to capture a sickened bald eagle in order to treat the bird of prey.
The Cape Wildlife Center said Wednesday it was still waiting for diagnostics on the eagle.
The center urged supporters to advocate for second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides to be banned — the form of pest control is currently only approved for commercial and structural uses.
“It is time to restrict the use of these poisons. Rodent control does not need to come at the expense of our natural heritage and ecosystem,” the center said.
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Mass. Lawmakers Look to Curb Use of Rat Poison
Wildlife advocates say rat poison is killing other animals at an alarming rate.
On February 25th, approximately 30 animal rights activists in New York City staged a disruption in the lobby of Trump Tower as part of the Worldwide Rally Against Trophy Hunting (WRATH), an annual multi-city demonstration produced by CompassionWorks International. Organizers of the NYC rally chose Trump Tower because Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have participated in many well-publicized trophy hunts and have posted photos with their victims.
Activists also staged rallies in Denver, Chicago, Birmingham (U.K.) and Nashville, where Safari Club International’s annual hunting convention took place. WRATH, which is timed to coincide with the annual convention, aims to “raise awareness about the ego-driven and senseless murder of countless wild animals by trophy hunters.”
During the Worldwide Rally Against Trophy Hunting…
The sponsor of a trio of bills expanding territory for wolf trapping and hound hunting for black bears said the legislation would better delineate areas where certain restrictions apply as he continues negotiations with state wildlife managers.
But opposition that included the governor and Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks expressed concern that the bills could jeopardize efforts to delist grizzly bears from the Endangered Species Act and erode the authority of the Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission.
House bills627,628and630brought by Rep. Paul Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, were heard during a marathon meeting of the House Fish, Wildlife and Parks Committee on Thursday evening. The bills come in response to legislation Fielder carried in the 2021 session allowing snares…
UK health experts are sharing details of their Covid-style plans against bird flu, including modelling for the unlikely scenario that it could mutate and cause a pandemic in people.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says there is no evidence H5N1 virus is an imminent threat or can spread between people, despite some getting sick after contact with infected birds.
But there is no room for complacency.
One expert told the BBC “we must prepare for the worst” just in case.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) is urging heightened vigilance from all countries, following the death of an 11-year-old girl in Cambodia from H5N1.
The girl’s father has also tested positive, according to Cambodia’s health minister.
Investigators are working to establish if infected birds were the cause, rather than a case of human-to-human transmission.
Humans rarely get bird flu, but when they do it is usually from coming into direct contact with infected birds.
Since late 2021, the world has been experiencing one of the worst global avian influenza outbreaks on record, with tens of millions of poultry culled and mass wild bird die-offs.
And there have been a few infections in some mammals, including foxes and otters in the UK.
Dr Meera Chand, from the UKHSA, said all of the latest evidence suggested H5N1 could not currently spread easily to people.
“However, viruses constantly evolve, and we remain vigilant for any evidence of changing risk to the population, as well as working with partners to address gaps in the scientific evidence.”
In preparation for a worst-case scenario of human-to-human spread, the UKHSA is modelling:
How many might become infected and get very sick
Whether lateral flow tests and blood tests would be helpful
What genetic mutations might signal an increased risk to human health
When the Covid pandemic hit, there were no suitable vaccines available to fight that virus. But for bird flu, there are already several good candidates that might help.
WHO-affiliated labs already hold two flu virus strains that are closely related to the circulating H5N1 virus, that manufacturers can use to develop new shots if needed, experts said at a meeting on Friday.
Prof Peter Openshaw, from Imperial College London, is a member of Nervtag – the group that advises the British government on new and emerging threats from respiratory viruses.
He told the BBC that the fact that we are still in a Covid pandemic in no way lessened the possibility of another pandemic coming from elsewhere.
“We absolutely need to watch this one,” he said.
“The good news at the moment is that there’s no evidence of human-to-human spread.
“We need to prepare for the worst but obviously hope for the best, to use the old phrase.”
Prof Sir Andrew Pollard, part of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid vaccine team, told the BBC that bird flu had “pandemic potential” as humans did not have immunity.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “In the human population at the moment there is no immunity against this strain of H5N1 because we never had an outbreak of that in humans.
“So there’s just no immunity, and that’s why it has pandemic potential… and why it’s so important to be vigilant.”
“Not another pandemic” might well be the exasperated response of many to talk of the risks from bird flu.
Covid fatigue is understandable but the H5N1 virus is a real concern to many scientists who monitor global disease threats.
Thankfully, the virus does not spread easily from birds to humans, requiring close contact. That would need to change if the threat of a human pandemic was to be realised, which would require the virus to mutate.
Since 2003 the WHO has recorded 868 cases in humans, of which 457 were fatal, so the mortality rate is more than 50%.
Scientists want to see better surveillance, more investment in vaccines and antivirals – so that should the worst ever happen, the world will be better prepared than it was when Covid emerged.
Image caption,Franco Moroni was cleared of culpable homicide
An Italian tourist who shot and killed his lifelong friend during a pigeon-hunting trip to Scotland has been cleared of culpable homicide.
A jury took just 30 minutes to find Franco Moroni not guilty.
Mr Moroni, 62, admitted killing Marco Cavola by blasting a shotgun at the back of his head at point-blank range.
The tourist from Loriano, near Rome, told the trial his friend stood up in front of him the moment he pulled his shotgun trigger while shooting pigeons.
Mr Moroni said he was filled with shame after the incident on the Rossie Estate in Inchture, near Dundee in 2019.
He said it had completely changed his life and had turned him into a virtual recluse.
It can now be reported that the shooting agent who organised the trip had already been fined nearly £5,000…
Two brothers died early Saturday, the day the 43rd annual Islands Ice Fishing Derby was set to launch, after their utility vehicle fell through the ice, police said.
An annual ice fishing tournament onVermont’s Lake Champlainwas called off at the last minute over the weekend after three men died when they fell through the ice during “abnormally warm” weather, officials said.
Organizers of the 43rd annual Islands Ice Fishing Derby announced in a FacebookpostSaturday morning that the weekend event was being canceled due to “the condition of the ice.”
The event was shut down after the Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Department issued a request for it to be canceled “effective immediately,” they said, as they asked anglers already out on the ice to clear…
Typically, hunting proposals travel a path from acceptance to implementation that is smooth, straight and unencumbered. This year’s trail comes with a twist.
Hunting proposals for 2023-24 put forth by the Ohio Division of Wildlife in January are on their way to what ordinarily would be approval in April, but theOhio Wildlife Councilhas been suggesting a few of those proposals need another look.
As part of an eight-member citizens oversight committee, council members are appointed by the governor to four-year terms and approved by the Senate.
Among council duties, the Ohio Revised Code (ORC) states, is to “investigate, consider, and make recommendations in all matters pertaining to the protection, preservation, propagation, possession, and management of wild animals throughout the state.”
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A World Health Organization (WHO) official has called the global H5N1 avian influenza situation … [+]AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
From a bird’s eye view, the H5N1 avian influenza situation has been very worrying for over a year. And now it’s rather worrying from a human’s eye view as well as a mink’s eye view, an otter’s eye view, a fox’s eye view. The Cambodian Health Ministry has found not just one but two humans infected with the H5N1 bird flu virus with one of the cases ending up in death. These reported human cases along with the continuing spread of this virus among birds around the world and the detection of the virus in minks, otters, and foxes has led a World Health Organization (WHO) official to call the whole situation “worrying.”
You never want to hear a WHO official say the word “worrying” unless it’s something like, “We’re worrying that you have too many different types of cake to choose from on the menu.” Now, in the case of H5N1, “worrying” doesn’t mean “time to panic and hoard toilet paper.” This virus hasn’t yet demonstrated the ability to jump from one human to another human. Such human-to-human transmission would be needed for this virus to potentially cause a pandemic among those who don’t have feathers and regularly wear clothes. This virus, which already has infected over 40 million birds worldwide since October 2021, has been a primarily a threat to those with wings, meaning those who have wings as body parts and not those who have simply ordered wings from a restaurant. Nevertheless, it’s important for humans to keep a close eye on what’s been happening in Cambodia.
These two new cases in Cambodia have become the first reported H5N1 bird flu cases in the country since 2014. The first of these two cases was an 11-year old girl from Cambodia’s rural Prey Veng province, who was diagnosed on Wednesday after a week of high fevers, a cough, and a sore throat. She unfortunately died that same day as tweeted by the Cambodian Government on February 22:
It’s not yet clear whether transmission between the girl and her father had actually occurred or whether this was a bird-in-hand situation with both of them catching the virus from birds. Four of the 12 humans who have been in close contact with the girl have had flu-like symptoms, based on a report from Fresh News Asia. However, aside from the father, none of them have tested positive for the H5N1 avian virus so far. Authorities in Cambodia have been testing birds in the area too and warning people to avoid touching either dead or sick birds. Of course, there probably aren’t too many situations where authorities will say, “Go ahead and touch dead birds all that you want.”
These two cases from Cambodia mean that there have now been nine human cases of the 2.3.4.4b clade of H5N1 avian influenza that’s been circulating amongst birds. Before the current Cambodia situation, the last reported human infection occurred about a month-and-half ago in the Bolívar province of Ecuador when nine-year-old girl was hospitalized with a severe infection. According to a January 18 WHO report, this girl had been in contact with backyard poultry and started having symptoms on December 25, 2022. Five days later she entered the hospital and was transferred on January 3, 2023, to a pediatric hospital in critical condition. She developed septic shock and required mechanical ventilation due to pneumonia. Other human cases since 2021 have appeared in other China, India, Spain, the U.K., and the U.S.
To date, public health experts have considered the threat of the H5N1 avian influenza virus to humans as low. It’s been more of a fine feathered mess since the virus hasn’t yet demonstrated the ability to consistently bind to and enter cells in the human respiratory tract. Nonetheless, flu viruses have shown over and over again that they can mutate in various ways. The right mutations (or the wrong ones, depending on your perspective) could make the H5N1 avian influenza virus become more of a threat to humans.
There has been a “furry” of H5N1 bird flu cases in some of our fine furred friends such as minks, otters, and foxes. For example, a Rapid Communication published in the journal Eurosurveillance on January 19, 2023, described an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) A(H5N1) on a mink farm in the Galicia region in Spain in October 2022. A significant increase in mink deaths was the first clue to farm workers that something was amiss. While such mammals may seem closer to humans than birds, if you haven’t noticed, minks aren’t exactly the same as humans. They don’t wear Spanx and some of their cells do have some similarities to bird cells. However, samples from the mink outbreak did show the virus to have a mutation in its PB2 gene that was present in the avian-like PB2 gene of the H1N1 flu virus that caused the 2009 pandemic. This mutation could potentially help the virus connect with cells in the airways of humans.
WHO has been worried about what’s been happening with the H5N1 avian influenza virus globally? The answer is apparently yes. A February 24 article in The Guardian by Nicola Davis and agencies, quoted Sylvie Briand, MD, MPH, PhD, Director of the Global Infectious Hazard Preparedness Department at the WHO, as saying, “The global H5N1 situation is worrying given the wide spread of the virus in birds around the world and the increasing reports of cases in mammals including humans.” The quote continued with, “WHO takes the risk from this virus seriously and urges heightened vigilance from all countries.”
Heightened vigilance will be important since you never know when the next pandemic might emerge. After all, the world did get caught with its collective pants down in 2020 with the Covid-19 coronavirus. Now, heightened vigilance doesn’t mean donning a trench coat and sunglasses, peering around the corners of buildings, and looking at every bird suspiciously. It does mean, though, that countries should install and maintain ways of detecting and quickly investigating any unusual cases of the flu. It also means keeping close track of what’s happening among different bird populations such as poultry farms and trying to control the spread of the virus as much as possible. No one wants 2023 to give everyone the bird, the bird flu, that is.
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