Bird flu has killed tens of thousands of birds, mostly pelicans, and at least 716 sea lions in protected areas across Peru, authorities said, as the H5N1 strain spreads across the region.
Peru recorded its first case of the virus in November in birds in the north of the country. It has since killed 63,000 birds, according to government figures.
“We have also recorded the unusual deaths of many sea lions since mid-January, so far we have about 716 dead sea lions in seven protected natural areas of the coast,” said Roberto Gutierrez, head of surveillance of the National Natural Protection Service. The zones.
Since early 2021, bird flu has ravaged the world, killing more than 200 million birds through disease or mass culling, the World Organization for Animal Health said.
In South America, cases of bird flu have been reported in Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, Paraguay and recently in Argentina and Uruguay. In Brazil, the world’s largest exporter of poultry, there are still no confirmed cases.
13 DEAD IN PERU CLASHES BETWEEN NEW ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTESTS
The spread of bird flu is killing thousands of birds, especially pelicans, and even sea lions in Peru’s protected areas.
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In Chile, health authorities last week detected the first positive case in a marine mammal, a sea lion on a beach in the north of the country.
The sea lion population numbered about 110,000 in Peru in 2020, mostly in the coastal region of Ica and the Paracas nature reserve, according to Oceana, an international organization dedicated to ocean protection.
In recent weeks, crews from Peru’s National Forestry and Wildlife Service, in protective plastic suits, gloves and masks, have collected and buried hundreds of sea lions from several beaches along Peru’s central coast.
“What we remember initially started with pelicans last year is now affecting these marine mammals,” said Javier Jara, a veterinarian at the service.
