Cranes die due to bird flu in the Hula Valley, February 2024/Photo: Nadav Israeli, Society for the Protection of Nature
Serious fear of a severe outbreak of bird flu, of a particularly virulent and contagious strain, in the Hula Valley and spillover of the disease to agricultural farms and the poultry sector, in the Upper Galilee - many dozens of dead crane carcasses are now in the Hula Valley and the surrounding agricultural areas, without being evacuated from the area, for days.
Despite procedures formulated during the epidemic of the winter of 2021-2022, which caused the death of approximately 9,000 cranes and over a million birds, which stipulated that the Ministry of Agriculture would include the handling of the issue, the dead cranes would be removed from the area as soon as possible and biological safety would be increased, the lessons from the previous outbreak were not applied - true For now, the Ministry of Agriculture is not generalizing the current event and many crane carcasses, as mentioned, are still in the field.
If the dead cranes are not removed from the area in the immediate time frame, and the movement of people from the infected area and beyond is allowed, without control, the fear is that the epidemic will increase to greater dimensions, similar to the winter of 2021-2022 and damage to the poultry industry, in the Upper Galilee, which is also suffering badly, following the war .
The Society for the Protection of Nature, this morning (Monday) appealed to the Minister of Agriculture, Avi Dichter, with a request to take responsibility for the incident and evacuate the carcasses of the dead cranes from the area.
Cranes die due to bird flu in the Hula Valley, February 2024/The Society for the Protection of Nature, Nadav Israeli
There is concern that the real number of dead cranes is higher
In the request of the Society for the Protection of Nature, to the Minister of Agriculture Dichter, it is written: "In the last two weeks, dead and dying cranes have begun to be found in the Hula Valley. Laboratory tests have confirmed the fear that it is the bird flu virus of the especially virulent and contagious strain - H5N1. In recent days, there has been an alarming increase in the finding of cranes, and how many Dozens of sick and dead cranes are found every day. Due to the difficulty in finding the dead cranes, there is concern that the real number is much higher. The dead and sick cranes are scattered throughout the Hula Valley, including in the Hula Reeds, in the Hula Reserve and in the agricultural areas in the Hula Valley.
"From the latest information we have, it appears Because as of Sunday, 11/2/24, 15 dead cranes and about 20 more with symptoms of the disease are in the patient reserve;
In Agmon Hula, about 30 dead cranes, most of which have been evacuated by now, and in the surrounding agricultural areas, another 45 dead cranes and 20 with symptoms.
It is important to note that there are probably more dead cranes in the area that have not been found or have already been eaten, or rotted and therefore not counted.
"In December 2021-January 2022, there was an acute outbreak of bird flu, which caused the death of about nine thousand cranes in the Hula Valley, as well as the destruction of more than a million birds of prey and severe damage to the poultry industry. After this outbreak, investigations were conducted by Rachel, conclusions were drawn and written Procedures.
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Cranes die due to bird flu in the Hula Valley, February 2024/The Society for the Protection of Nature, Nadav Israeli
"One of the important lessons that emerged is the immediate need to dispose of wild poultry carcasses, in order to reduce the rate of spread of the plague, and the need to increase biological safety in the management of the poultry industry. It was also decided that the Ministry of Agriculture is the responsible party for managing dealing with future outbreaks of influenza The poultry.
"Unfortunately, it seems that the lessons from the previous outbreak are not being applied.
Until now, the Ministry of Agriculture does not generalize the current outbreak event and does not manage it.
Furthermore, although there is accurate information on the location of crane carcasses and sick cranes, the Ministry of Agriculture does not remove the crane carcasses from the agricultural areas in the Hula Valley, which is under its responsibility.
There is a serious fear that in the very next few days, the avian flu epidemic will break out strongly, similar to the winter of 2021/22, and that it will spill over into the agricultural farms in the Upper Galilee, which are also suffering very badly from the war.
"I am turning to you, with an urgent request for the Ministry of Agriculture to take immediate responsibility and manage the incident with all urgency and severity, with the participation of all relevant stakeholders, as well as the urgent and immediate evacuation of all the crane carcasses.
In addition, it is required to immediately declare large areas in the Hula valley as infected with the disease, and handle the movement of people to and from them, in the proper manner. These actions may greatly reduce the rate of infection and prevent spillover into the poultry industry."
More on the same topic:
Avian Influenza
Emek Hula
cranes