Chris Oberholtz

Sat, October 7, 2023 at 9:02 AM PDT·3 min read

https://news.yahoo.com/thousands-birds-dead-utah-suspected-160202588.html

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SALT LAKE CITY — Thousands of birds in northern Utah have died due to a recent outbreak of wildlife officials believe is avian botulism.

Biologists with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources said they discovered dead and sick birds in mid-September in the Willard Spur and Harold Crane waterfowl management areas.

Several birds were gathered and examined to determine if they were infected with a disease. The testing revealed that the birds did not have highly pathogenic avian influenza, which has had fewer cases in the state this year, according to the Utah DWR. The final test results are not yet available, but experts said they believe that avian botulism may have caused the birds’ deaths.

Avian botulism is caused by a toxin produced by Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which is made in warm water with low oxygen levels during summer and fall, according to wildlife officials. The disease is a problem in Utah, usually occurring between July and September, especially during hot and rainy weather.

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OVER 300 MILLION BIRDS START ANNUAL FALL MIGRATION TO THE SOUTH FOR THE WINTER

The stagnant pools of water that form during these conditions provide a breeding ground for the anaerobic bacteria that causes avian botulism, wildlife officials add. This can make birds sick and cause them to die.

According to state biologists, the number of birds affected by avian botulism in Utah was unusually high this year. While it is difficult to say how many birds died, officials estimate that tens of thousands were affected, especially in the Bear River Bay and Willard Spur Waterfowl Management Area.

“Our wetland managers strive to make adjustments in their water management practices on state waterfowl management areas in order to keep fresh water flowing, which can help minimize the impacts of avian botulism,” DWR Waterfowl Coordinator Jason Jones said. “Many of the waterfowl management areas were originally created to reduce the botulism outbreaks that occurred along the river deltas a century ago.”

Avian botulism primarily affects waterfowl, gulls and shorebirds in stagnant water, often resulting in the discovery of sick or dead birds near the shoreline. Signs of the disease include the inability of a bird to hold its head up and a bird flapping its wings, but not having the strength to take off, wildlife officials said.

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When encountering sick or dead birds, it is important to follow these safety precautions, the Utah DWR said. Although rare, avian botulism outbreaks can pose a risk to humans.

• Hunt waterfowl that are in flight, as this is usually a sign of good health.
• Refrain from hunting or eating birds that exhibit signs of sickness or weakness.
• Cook meat thoroughly to ensure that the toxin is denatured by the heat.
• Botulism can affect dogs if they consume the meat, so keep your dogs away from sick, dead or dying birds.

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Wildlife officials advise that if you encounter sick birds, you should refrain from handling or touching them. Attempting to catch or feed them could be detrimental as it may provide them with unsuitable food. It is also recommended that you keep a safe distance from the birds to avoid causing them additional stress.

Original article source: Thousands of birds dead in Utah after suspected avian botulism outbreak View comments

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By AFP – Agence France Presse

https://www.barrons.com/news/cambodian-man-dies-from-bird-flu-ba7749db

October 8, 2023

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A 50-year-old man has died from bird flu in Cambodia, the health ministry said on Sunday, the second death from the virus recorded in the country this year.

The World Health Organization has called for vigilance after bird flu was detected in mammals, but has stressed that the risk to humans is low.

The ministry said that tests had confirmed the man — who has not been named, but is from eastern Svay Rieng province bordering Vietnam — was positive for bird flu virus H5N1 from October 7.

Officials did not specify the man’s time of death, but said health authorities are “investigating and researching this bird flu case”.

The disease typically spreads from birds to humans through direct contact.

Officials said they were looking into the source of the infection, and were examining any suspected cases or people who may have been in contact with the victim.

The ministry said around 50 poultry, some belonging to the man and some owned by his neighbours, had died recently.

“The dead chickens were shared among villagers to eat,” the health ministry statement said.

The ministry urged villagers to be vigilant about H5N1, which is “still a threat to the health of people, especially children”.

The case is the 58th recorded instance of bird flu since the virus hit Cambodia two decades ago. In February an eleven-year-old girl died from the virus.

Since late 2021, Europe has been gripped by its worst-ever outbreak of bird flu, with North and South America also experiencing severe outbreaks.

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This has led to the culling of tens of millions of domestic poultry worldwide, many with the H5N1 strain.

The global outbreak is also responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of wild birds.

The recent detection of the disease in a number of mammals, including foxes, otters, minks, sea lions and even grizzly bears, has sparked concern that humans could be more at risk.

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The Barron’s news department was not involved in the creation of the content above. This story was produced by AFP. For more information go to AFP.com.
© Agence France-Presse

By My Northwest and KIRO 7 News Staff

October 06, 2023 at 3:17 pm PDT

https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/deadly-bird-flu-found-puget-sound-harbor-seal-population/Q3OLVF7TKVFKLIEFHBLPUB3M6A/

+Caption(Robert F. Bukaty/AP)

PUGET SOUND, Wash. — Wildlife officials are sounding the alarm, after determining several dead harbor seals found in the north Puget Sound had bird flu.

It’s believed that avian influenza jumped from wild birds in the Salish Sea to local harbor seals. That’s after three adult seals tested positive for the virus in mid-August, according to a report from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The press release was also linked in a NOAA social media post.

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This is as an ongoing outbreak of avian flu has affected wild populations of seabirds around Rat Island and Marrowstone Island. Katie Haman, a wildlife veterinarian with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, recently recovered 1,600 dead birds in the area and said that she was trying to minimize exposure to the seals, among other mammals.

“I think the fact that we only had five, I would like to think that number was lower than it could have been, because we were out collecting the carcasses and hopefully reducing that the transmission,” Haman said. “I hope that we are we’re in the clear, at least in the transmission from the birds to the mammals.”

Currently, evidence shows the virus is spreading directly from birds to seals and is not being spread from seal to seal. That’s important as a mammal-to-mammal spread could mean a higher risk of the virus spreading to humans. Bird flu can infect humans, but health officials say that risk is low.

“The discovery of HPAI H5N1 in seals brings to light the potential for cross-species transmission and highlights the complexity of managing infectious diseases in wildlife populations,” says Kristin Wilkinson, NOAA Fisheries’ regional stranding and entanglement coordinator said in a report.

Even so, beachgoers are urged to keep themselves and their pets away from animal carcasses. If you encounter sick, injured, or dead seals, call the West Coast Region Stranding Hotline at (866) 767-6114, and the Washington State Department of Health is advising residents not to touch the dead bird.

On the East Coast, however, about 500 gray and harbor seals have died from bird flu around the coast of Maine. NOAA declared an unusual mortality event for the area due to the unexpectedly high volume of deaths.

Last winter, an outbreak of bird flu occurred in the domestic population in commercial poultry farms, causing price spikes for eggs and meat, and forcing the euthanasia of more than 47 million chickens and turkeys.

This isn’t the first instance of bird flu among local animals in Washington in 2023. In January, an outbreak forced a Monroe farm to shut down for the rest of the year. That led to a mass culling of nearly 200 ducks.

In July, bird flu was found in birds and seals near Jefferson County’s Fort Flagler State Park.

This story was only posted by My Northwest.

©2023 Cox Media Group

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Story by Isabel van Brugen •10h

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures during his annual meeting with participants of the Valdai Discussion Club, October 5, 2023 in Sochi, Russia. President Putin is having a two-day visit to Russia’s Black Sea resort of Sochi to meet foreign and local political experts.© Contributor/Getty Images

Russian President Vladimir Putin outlined on Thursday when his country would use nuclear weapons.

The Russian leader escalated his nuclear rhetoric at an annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club in Sochi, declaring that Moscow has successfully tested the nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable Burevestnik cruise missile—a claim Kremlin officials had denied just days earlier.

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There have been growing fears throughout Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Russia may use nuclear weapons.

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Many fear that Ukraine retaking Crimea would be a red line for Russia and that Putin may use his country’s nuclear capabilities to defend the territory. Putin illegally annexed the Black Sea peninsula from Ukraine in 2014.

“In the event of an attack on Russia, no one has any chance of survival,” Putin warned.

In a wide-ranging speech, Putin said Russia’s military doctrine outlined two reasons for the country’s potential use of nuclear weapons—the first being a counter attack should another country first launch a nuclear strike on Russia.

He said no nation would survive a retaliatory nuclear strike from Russia.

“To date, there will be no chance for the aggressor to survive in the event of our response,” he said.

The second reason, Putin said, is a threat to the existence of the Russian state, even if conventional weapons are used against the country. Putin said he saw no reason to lower the bar for using nuclear weapons, as one Russian analyst had suggested.

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“I don’t see the need for this. There is no situation in which today something would threaten the existence of Russian statehood. I think no person in his right mind would think of using nuclear weapons against Russia. And a potential enemy knows about our capabilities,” he added.

The Russian leader said back in September 2022 that he’d be prepared to use nuclear weapons to defend Russian territory.

“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people—this is not a bluff,” Putin said in a televised address to the nation at the time.

Putin was also quoted by Russia’s state-run news agency RIA Novosti as saying Thursday that the “last successful test of the Burevestnik, a global-range cruise missile with a nuclear installation, a nuclear propulsion system, has been conducted.”

When Putin first announced the program to develop the Burevestnik in 2018, he touted it as a “a low-flying stealth missile carrying a nuclear warhead, with almost unlimited range, unpredictable trajectory and ability to bypass interception boundaries.”

Putin didn’t say when the latest test took place