including mass deaths 4,000 birds in Solway Bayrepresenting a third of the Svalbard barnacle goose population that winters in the area.
breeding
In spring and summer, bird flu is spreading to wider wild bird diversity in England.
For some species, this may reflect a return to summer breeding grounds and increased mixing — because bird flu is spread through contact with saliva or feces.
As this breeding season peaks, a wide variety of seabirds are affected, including the great skua, eider, rich horse, tern, gannet and guillemot.
The UK is home to more than half of the world’s gannets and great skua, both of which have been officially recognised as birds of moderate conservation concern”amber status“.
Avian flu adds to a litany of problems these birds face – from climate change to entangled in abandoned fishing gear – and raises concerns from groups such as RSPB and Birdlife, who already see the outbreak as a Worst ever in the UK.
limit
Conservation groups have requested additional resources to help monitor and resolve issues.
Many bird rangers and reserve managers are already working in nature reserves most affected by bird flu, so they will be an important part of the solution.
We can also reduce the level of human disturbance in particularly sensitive locations, for example by introducing buffer zones or seasonal restrictions.
But, more broadly, we just need more surveillance for bird flu to better understand the problem.This also means giving the relevant government department and mechanism They need more resources to monitor and test wild birds.
seagull
Avian flu remains infectious in the environment during summer up to 18 daysThus, the large number of potentially infected dead birds on the coast provides an ongoing route for transmission to raptors and scavengers, especially seagulls known to be susceptible to avian influenza.
Increasing the number of carcasses collected would have the added benefit of eliminating the possibility of carnivores becoming infected, thereby further infecting other birds.
Given that some of these seabirds can travel great distances in search of food— Gannets can reach up to 400 kmfor example – we need a national approach to this problem, coordinated across the four countries in the UK.
Biosecurity
And as the virus spreads repeatedly between domestic and wild bird populations, we should also revisit the biosecurity measures in the poultry industry.
What does this mean for the general public? Although avian influenza is a zoonotic disease similar to COVID-19, the risk to human health is very low, and human cases are almost exclusively caused by close contact between bird keepers and their populations.Advice to the public is not to touch any dead birds you see, and report them.
If you feed wild birds, remember to wash and sanitize feeders weekly and bird baths daily, as bird flu is mainly spread through saliva and feces.
Humanity
If you’re out walking your dog, keep an eye out for them when you’re at the beach or near the water, and use lead when you’re in a nature reserve or if you see a dead bird.
There is no doubt that the increase in the death toll will give the public a sense of the magnitude of the problem. Avian flu has now “fallen” on our minds and will be more prominent as summer continues and the holidays begin.
While the risk to humans is very low, it is another reminder of how We are connected with natureand how our interactions with the natural world have a huge impact on what we think of as “human” systems.
this author
Andrew Saget is a Senior Research Fellow with the Vice-Chancellor of Northumbria University, Newcastle.This article was originally published in conversation.
