Avian flu: what should I do?

I once saw a question on the popular gameshow Pointless where the contestants had to identify a seabird with four letters, _ k_ _. It’s not a common bird so I wasn’t surprised that no-one got it, but the answer was skua, or to be more precise the great skua, Stercorarius skua.

They are large and rather thuggish seabirds which breed mostly on Scotland’s coasts and islands. In fact, Scotland is home to more than half their world population.

Yet a hidden killer has been devastating the skua population, along with other seabirds; so much so that some scientists fear that it will become locally extinct. That killer is bird flu, specifically a virulent strain known as H5N1, Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza. In these times of Covid 19 we are all too familiar with viral diseases, but people aren’t the only ones to suffer.

Devastating impact

The recent severe outbreak started among barnacle geese wintering on the Solway Firth last autumn, where more than 10,000 birds died. This year it spread to breeding seabirds in Scotland and then round the coasts of the rest of the UK. Many different kinds of seabirds have been affected, including gannets, terns and guillemots – all colonial breeders where the conditions for spreading infectious disease are ideal, although other birds have been affected too.

I often get asked to identify a bird someone’s seen in their garden, but sadly recently it’s been a case of ‘I saw these dead birds on the beach’. Although the obvious impacts of bird flu may lessen as birds disperse from their breeding colonies, it looks like it’s here to stay.

Bird flu also has a devastating impact on poultry farmers, with more than 77 million birds culled across the world since last October. The virus was first identified in intensive poultry farming in southern China in the 1990s, but the latest outbreak seems to be particularly severe among wild birds. Fortunately, the risk to human health is extremely low, although there are concerns that eventually the virus may mutate to become more of a threat to people. Meantime there is certainly an emotional impact, whether you’re a poultry farmer or a conservationist having to deal with dead birds. I’ve seen some very distressing videos circulating on social media.

There’s lots we don’t know about how the virus is spread, but according to the World Organisation of Animal Health the main factors are international trade, the farming and sale of birds, and the migration of wild birds. I think you can work out which two of those are human activities.

What does this teach us?

A possible reaction might be: ‘That’s nature for you’; nature can be brutal, and we shouldn’t get too sentimental when animals die.

A more considered reaction would be to take it as a reminder that God’s good creation is marred by disease and death, but also that humans may have contributed to a bad situation and that humans also suffer when creation suffers. We should support and comfort those who are in distress, and call for people with influence to put things right wherever animal health and the care of creation is at risk because of poor trade or farming practices.

What should I do?

If you come across a dead or sick bird, what should you do? Don’t touch it or pick it up. In Great Britain, if you find dead wild waterfowl (swans, geese or ducks) or other dead wild birds, such as gulls or birds of prey, you should report them to the Defra helpline (03459 33 55 77). There’s also an official website with useful advice (https://www.gov. uk/guidance/avian-influenza-bird-flu#public) including on how to dispose of dead birds you might find in your garden.