Over 100 dead seagulls found in Oulu in this month

News of possible bird flu brings surge of reports

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More than 100 seagulls have been found dead in the northern coastal city of Oulu in August.
      The city’s on-duty veterinarian picked up the carcasses of about a dozen dead birds during the weekend. Members of the public had reported the sightings after news came out that a dead seagull that had been found in the area on Friday had probably been infected by a weak version of avian influenza, or bird flu.
      Samples of the birds have been sent abroad for closer analysis, but officials believe that the virus was probably a low-pathogen version of bird flu, which is fairly common among birds, and which does not pose a risk to humans. There has not yet been any indication that high-pathogen bird flu virus, which is dangerous to humans, might have spread to Finland. It has been detected in Southeast Asia, and most recently, in Russia.
     
After Friday’s report of a seagull dying of bird flu, dozens of dead seagulls and other birds have been brought to the Helsinki and Oulu units of the National Veterinary and Food Research Institute of Finland (EELA) for examination.
      Antti Oksanen, the director of the Oulu unit of EELA, says that none of the other birds examined so far appear to have suffered from bird flu.
      "They have many parasites, as well as fungal and bacterial infections... No cellular changes suggesting bird flu have been found."
      There has also been no indication that the number of dead birds found in the wild would be abnormally high for this time of the year.
      Antti Nurminen, the official veterinarian of Oulu Province, announced a number of precautions to help head off the possible spread of the dangerous version of bird flu to Finland. He says that samples are to be taken from the domesticated birds at duck ponds and animal parks, which might come into contact with wild birds.
      He also said that blood samples would be taken from chickens at poultry farms.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Suspected bird flu virus detected in seagulls in Finland (29.8.2005)

Helsingin Sanomat