Lehigh Valley Zoo on Wednesday evening introduced what it known as the difficult resolution to maneuver most of its birds on exhibit to indoor areas.
The aim is to remove contact with wild birds as Extremely Pathogenic Avian Influenza — chook flu — continues to flow into close by and nationwide.
U.S. Division of Agriculture Animal and Plant Well being Inspection Service officers this month confirmed the chook flu in additional than 60,000 industrial turkeys in Lehigh County.
USDA’s APHIS doesn’t establish precisely the place the outbreaks are occurring past the county degree, however Lehigh Valley Zoo officers say two of the current outbreaks occurred lower than 10 miles away.
The zoo earlier this 12 months moved its African penguins and lorikeets off exhibit for 3 months in response to the chook flu, which the USDA says has now affected greater than 50 million birds throughout 46 states because it was confirmed in the USA in February. The zoo has moved those self same species indoors this time round, as effectively, along with ravens, the animals within the zoo’s Birds of Prey and Barnyard Birds sections, and waterfowl. Giant birds such because the emu and ostrich will stay of their common reveals, as a result of indoor area constraints, in response to Wednesday evening’s announcement.
“We now have protocols and procedures in place to make sure the well being and welfare of our animals. Sadly, generally this implies they are going to be away from public view for a brief time frame,” Lehigh Valley Zoo president and CEO Amanda Shurr mentioned in a press release. “Our devoted workers of veterinarians and animal care professionals was in a position to shortly reply so as to higher shield our resident birds. We’ll proceed to offer glorious take care of these birds of their off-exhibit housing, and we may even work to make modifications to their present Zoo habitats in order that we will return them there as shortly and safely as attainable.”
The virus is extraordinarily contagious amongst birds and practically at all times deadly, resulting in culling of business and yard flocks when it’s detected, specialists say.
Signs of Extremely Pathogenic Avian Influenza in birds embody sneezing, coughing, strolling or swimming in circles, and swelling of the legs and toes, in response to the Lehigh Valley Zoo, which is accredited by the Affiliation of Zoos and Aquariums.
Wild waterfowl are the commonest carriers, however they’re usually asymptomatic, whereas birds of prey, similar to hawks and owls, and scavengers, similar to crows and gulls, could present extra extreme an infection, officers on the zoo mentioned. Different animals inclined embody carnivores, non-human primates, and pigs with attainable an infection occurring after the animal consumes an contaminated chook or consumes meals that has been contaminated by an contaminated chook.
The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention says it has confirmed one human case of the circulating chook flu.
Our journalism wants your help. Please subscribe right this moment to lehighvalleylive.com.
Kurt Bresswein could also be reached at [email protected].
