BIRD FLU OUTBREAK KILLS 2,000 WILD CRANES IN ISRAEL

Mon 27 December 2021:

The parks authority said Sunday that a bird flu outbreak has killed more than 2,000 wild cranes on a reserve in northern Israel, an unusually high toll for the seasonal flu.

According to Ohad Hatsofe, a specialist with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, another 10,000 are believed to be infected in addition to the 2,000 who have died.

According to Uri Naveh, a senior scientist at the authority, the virus affects Israel every year, but this year’s outbreak is much larger than previous years.

The number of dead cranes, according to Naveh, is “exceptional.”

Since October, approximately 100,000 wild cranes have arrived in Israel, the majority of whom have stopped in the Hula Valley, an important stop on their migratory path to Africa.

It’s estimated that over 40,000 cranes remain in the area.
According to Israel’s agriculture ministry, the avian flu that is ravaging the population, H5N1, has been detected in some chicken populations in northern Israel.

Egg shortage

Israel’s Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development on Sunday said a shortage of millions of eggs is expected in the country due to the outbreak of pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza.

It is estimated that there would be a shortage of 14 million eggs a month, out of 200 million eggs consumed in Israel monthly.

To address the problem, Israeli agriculture minister Oded Forer decided to immediately open the Israeli market to the duty-free import of 70 million to 100 million eggs.

Although H5N1 outbreaks in humans are uncommon, they have occurred in the past.

Since 2003, H5N1 has killed over 450 people, mostly in Indonesia, Egypt, and Vietnam, according to the World Health Organization.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES | FILE PHOTO: Nebraska-Crane-Migration

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