Spread of bird flu slows down
An outbreak of bird flu, which has killed more than 500 African penguins and spread to at least three islands near Lüderitz, seems to be slowing down but has led to a worrying drop in population numbers.
Ministry of agriculture spokesperson Margaret Kalo has confirmed that new penguin deaths have slowed down “to almost zero”.
Nevertheless, it has “caused a very significant drop in the already critical population.”
The outbreak of H5N8 avian influenza was first detected on Halifax Island in December last year.
The latest mortality figures showed 395 deaths on Halifax Island, 45 on Ichaboe Island and 19 on Mercury Island.
Scientists monitoring the situation say no sick or dead birds have been observed in the past week.
Most of the deaths were among adult birds and a large portion is believed to have been valuable breeding birds, five years or older.
These figures do not include the bird carcasses that were washed off the beaches and may have gone unnoticed.
The impact of the disease on the penguin population has been devastating, scientists say.
There has been a dramatic decline in the breeding colonies this year, compared to the previous two years.
Halifax Island is one of the few African penguin sites where numbers had been increasing, compared to worrying declines elsewhere.
Before the outbreak, the island was home to about 7 000 adult penguins, including roughly 1 400 breeding pairs.
Kalo says bird flu is caused by the type A (H5N8) strain of the influenza virus and is spread by migratory birds.
There is no vaccine or treatment for bird flu. The response to an outbreak is limited to burning carcasses to halt the spread of the highly infectious disease.
JANA-MARI SMITH
Ministry of agriculture spokesperson Margaret Kalo has confirmed that new penguin deaths have slowed down “to almost zero”.
Nevertheless, it has “caused a very significant drop in the already critical population.”
The outbreak of H5N8 avian influenza was first detected on Halifax Island in December last year.
The latest mortality figures showed 395 deaths on Halifax Island, 45 on Ichaboe Island and 19 on Mercury Island.
Scientists monitoring the situation say no sick or dead birds have been observed in the past week.
Most of the deaths were among adult birds and a large portion is believed to have been valuable breeding birds, five years or older.
These figures do not include the bird carcasses that were washed off the beaches and may have gone unnoticed.
The impact of the disease on the penguin population has been devastating, scientists say.
There has been a dramatic decline in the breeding colonies this year, compared to the previous two years.
Halifax Island is one of the few African penguin sites where numbers had been increasing, compared to worrying declines elsewhere.
Before the outbreak, the island was home to about 7 000 adult penguins, including roughly 1 400 breeding pairs.
Kalo says bird flu is caused by the type A (H5N8) strain of the influenza virus and is spread by migratory birds.
There is no vaccine or treatment for bird flu. The response to an outbreak is limited to burning carcasses to halt the spread of the highly infectious disease.
JANA-MARI SMITH
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