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Peregrine falcon found dead in illegal trap in Scotland
Bird flu kills hundreds of flamingos in Argentina
27th November 2023, 09:00 PSTShare
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-67509697
By Vanessa BuschschlüterBBC News
Getty ImagesJames’s flamingos, also known as puna flamingos, live at high altitude in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru
An outbreak of bird flu has killed 220 flamingos in north-western Argentina, officials have confirmed.
The dead birds are of the James’s flamingo species (Phoenicoparrus jamesi), which lives at high altitudes in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile and Peru.
The H5N1 strain of the avian flu virus currently spreading through South America can infect an entire flock within days.
It can also spread to humans and other mammals through droppings and saliva.
In August, more than 50 sea lions died of bird flu on Argentina’s Atlantic coast and earlier this year thousands of them were found dead in Chile and Peru.
Some of the tests carried out on the flamingos found dead in the north-western province of Catamarca came back positive for avian flu, biodiversity official Anabella Ahumada told local media.
The lagoons in the area are also home to two other species of flamingo, but so far only James’s flamingos appear to have been infected.
The local authorities said they had put in place measures to contain the spread of the virus They also warned locals not to touch any dead animals.
The James’s flamingo, also known as puna flamingo, is categorised as “near threatened” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Getty ImagesSea lions have also been infected with avian flu
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France reports bird flu on turkey farm as disease spreads in Europe
Reuters
November 28, 20231:31 AM PSTUpdated 9 hours ago
PARIS, Nov 28 (Reuters) – France has detected an outbreak of highly pathogenic bird flu virus on a turkey farm in the northwest of the country, the agriculture ministry said on Tuesday, as a seasonal wave of infections spreads across Europe.
The outbreak in the Brittany region, France’s first farm case this autumn, occurred near where an infected wild bird was found, the ministry said in a statement.
Several cases among wild birds have been recorded in recent days, it said, adding the government had raised its national alert level for bird flu to moderate from negligible.
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Poultry flocks in areas particularly exposed to contact with wild birds would now be confined indoors, the ministry said.
Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, has led to the culling of hundreds of millions birds in the past years. It usually strikes in Europe during autumn and winter and has recently been detected on farms in countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Croatia and Hungary.
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To counter the disease, which has disrupted the supply of poultry meat and eggs and sent prices rocketing in parts of the world in recent years, France launched a vaccination campaign against bird flu in early October.
The French programme is being initially limited to ducks, which are the most vulnerable to the virus. Ducks accounted for only 8% of total French poultry output in 2022.
