As of: 04/05/2023 5:23 p.m
Thousands of animals died of bird flu in the Wadden Sea last spring. Experts now want to take countermeasures in order to protect the birds in the best possible way during this breeding season.
Experts have drawn up recommendations for action to be taken in response to further outbreaks of bird flu in the Wadden Sea. The main focus is on the forthcoming breeding season. According to the proposals, dead carcasses, for example, should be increasingly collected.
“As a result, there is even a chance of containing an outbreak,” says Kristine Meise, Program Manager for Migration and Biodiversity at the Wadden Sea Secretariat. However, these interventions would have to be weighed up carefully, because collection always means disruption. “It could cause infected animals to migrate and spread the virus to other colonies.”
In addition, scientists increasingly want to test live birds for the virus. They hope to get an overview of the spread as early as possible.
New outbreak still unclear
The recommendations are the result of a workshop in Wilhelmshaven at the end of March. Virologists, ornithologists, epidemiologists and veterinarians from Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Great Britain and Sweden had consulted there.
For years, bird flu only appeared in connection with bird migration in Germany in the winter months. Last year, the pathogen did not disappear in the spring. The consequences were immense.
On the island of Heligoland alone, hundreds of gannets died or prematurely stopped breeding. In Lower Saxony, the endangered sandwich tern was hit the hardest. About 5800 dead animals were found.
“We agreed at the workshop that there is a high risk that a new outbreak could occur,” says Meise. However, it is not foreseeable whether and to what extent this will happen.