Bird flu has killed at least 750 pelicans found dead in Senegal’s Djoudj bird sanctuary after authorities initially ruled out the disease, scientific analysis has shown.
The birds – 740 juveniles and ten adults – were discovered in the national bird sanctuary in Djoudj on January 23, and the country’s environment ministry said on Wednesday it was closed to the public.
Now ‘we have the results of the analysis. It is indeed bird flu type H5N1, ”national parks director Bocar Thiam told Agence France-Presse.
The Minister of Environmental Affairs, Karim Sall, confirmed the bird flu diagnosis to RFM radio.
Djoudj is a mix of wetlands, savannah, canals, swamps and lakes located in the Senegal River Delta. There are more than 3 million birds of almost 400 species.
Thiam initially ruled out bird flu, claiming it only affects birds that eat grains, rather than fish-eating birds such as pelicans.
But the analysis of the Ministry of Livestock refuted the theory.
While the pelicans’ bodies and debris were destroyed, park chief Thiam said Friday that “we need to do more” to prevent the disease from spreading.
At the beginning of the year, Senegal killed more than 40,000 poultry after an outbreak of bird flu was detected on a farm in Thies in the west of the country.
The livestock ministry has killed nearly 60,000 birds in the preceding weeks.
Authorities now believe the group has been eliminated.
Senegal’s borders have been closed in the bird flu epidemic for poultry products since 2005 to prevent pollution, but the government is struggling to prevent illegal imports from neighboring countries.
Several European countries are also experiencing outbreaks of bird flu, with 2 million animals – mostly ducks – being slaughtered in France in December to keep it under control.