Bird flu death toll on Farne Islands passes over 3,000

More than three thousand dead birds have been found by the National Trust, which takes care of the islands, but approximately ten times more may have dropped into the sea. The Farne Islands off the Northumberland coast are home to approximately two hundred thousand birds.
The charity calls for an urgent response, but the government has said that only restricted effective actions could be taken. Earlier this month, the islands were closed to the public to prevent the spread of bird flu.
The Farne Islands are internationally critical habitat for twenty-three species, including arctic terns, puffins, sandwich terns, guillemots, razorbills, and common terns.
RSPB rangers on Coquet Island, further south along the Northumberland coast, have been collecting and burying thousands of deceased sea birds after bird flu had been identified there, disturbing the primary breeding season.
The disease was confirmed in June at the world’s largest colony of northern gannets at Bass Rock, and a significant number of deceased birds were found washed up along the Teesside and Northumberland coasts.
The Natonal Trust’s head of nature conservation, Ben McCarthy has stated, “There is a lack of clear and effective guidance and arrangements for disease control and we need to urgently develop mitigation measures to reduce the further spread in the coming months as birds migrate back into UK waters. We need a more coordinated approach to ensure effective monitoring, surveillance and reporting to support research into the impacts this deadly disease is having on our wild birds across the UK.”
The Department for Environment and Rural Affairs has stated: “We recognise the threat posed by highly pathogenic avian influenza to the UK’s wild bird populations, but there are limited effective actions that can be taken to protect them, as opposed to captive bird flocks. Our current policy is in line with international standards of best practice for disease control. The Animal and Plant Health Agency operates a robust, year-round programme of dead wild bird surveillance and clear public guidance has been issued not to handle their carcasses. Our new research consortium also funds research into how bird flu viruses are emerging in wild populations and help us understand the risk posed to both domestic and wild birds.”
Simon Lee, Farne Islands general manager has stated: “The National Trust has cared for the Farne Islands for just under one hundred years and there are no records of anything so potentially damaging to our already endangered seabird colonies.”