Provincial minister for local government, environmental affairs and development planning Anton Bredell said authorities had been working all weekend

Cape seabirds dying in their thousands from Avian flu outbreak

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2021-10-20 19:00:10

Provincial minister for local government, environmental affairs and development planning Anton Bredell said authorities had been working all weekend to clean up suspected outbreaks and to remove dead and sick birds to prevent the spread of the virus.

Over the weekend roughly 700 dead birds a day were collected from various regions across the province, with the main hotspots continuing to be the Bergrivier Municipality and Dyer Island in the Overberg.

Most of those affected are Cape cormorants. This is especially distressing after the rescue and rehabilitation of 1,700 Cape cormorant chicks at the beginning of the year.

IMPORTANT NOTICE! This year a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza (bird flu) has been circulating in seabirds in the Western Cape. This viral disease has affected and killed a large variety of seabirds, including pelicans, gulls and cormorants. pic.twitter.com/kka1dLjEw5

“This means people must not attempt to assist or transport any sick birds. This remains a serious situation with the impact hard felt among endangered wild birds particularly cormorants. This is an incurable disease affecting birds, that is not preventive, cannot be treated and is highly contagious to birds.”