Authorities fear spread of bird flu following discovery of dead birds in Oslo

Ducks - ØstensjøvannetPhoto: Håkon Mosvold Larsen / NTB

After several birds have been found dead in Oslo, authorities ask people to keep domestic birds indoors or under secured conditions. Furthermore, people are asked to stop feeding wild birds, Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK) reports.

There is fear of a flu virus that is very deadly to the birds spreading in the capital, the channel writes.

Biologist Kjell Isaksen from the Urban Environment Agency in Oslo Municipality explains that the feeding of wild birds can contribute to the infection spreading more easily, for example, by birds ingesting feces from other birds from food on the ground. 

Feeding small birds on the bird feeder is fine, however.

Section manager Ann Margaret Grøndahl in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority in Romerike says that no one south of Trøndelag should feed ducks or other wild birds.

Dead and sick birds

Five dead or obviously sick birds have been found by the Østensjøvannet lake in Oslo, and highly pathogenic bird flu has been detected in one of these.

In November 2020, a highly pathogenic bird flu was detected in Norway for the first time. Since then, cases have been detected in Asker, Oslo, Risør, Sarpsborg, Indre Østfold, and on Jæren.

The Norwegian Institute of Public Health considers the risk of infection to humans to be very low.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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