Before the weekend, 5,100 dead birds had been picked in Vadsø. Now the number of dead birds is up to 8,850. The Civil Defense is now involved in the work of clearing away dead wild birds in the municipality. – Putting people into such a mission is something unusual. Bird flu is not something we deal with on a daily basis, says acting district manager of the Civil Defense in Eastern Finnmark, Ola Johansen. – But as long as there is a need for it and there is a situation that deviates from the normal, we are prepared to help, says Johansen. In the first instance, the Civil Defense will contribute ten people to clean-up work on Monday and Tuesday. Photo: Knut-Sverre Horn / news Operations manager in Vadsø municipality, Pål Johnsen, says the help will be very useful. – This means that we will relieve those who have been working hard on this with us. It’s the middle of the holiday season, and we don’t have that many hands to take off, says Pål Johnsen. Spade roof with dead bird Crews from Vadsø municipality are clearing dead birds at will, and there is little indication that the bird flu outbreak will decrease in scope anytime soon. – The first word I want to use is catastrophic. We have picked 3,000 dead seagulls this weekend alone, says operations manager Pål Johnsen. Pål Johnsen tells about grotesque sights that meet the cleaning crews. – In some places you can shovel sod roof after sod roof with dead birds. Extensive work The bird flu outbreak, which affects several municipalities in the far north of the country, is therefore very extensive. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority describes the situation as the largest outbreak of bird flu in wild birds Norway has seen. The Veterinary Institute, which assists the Norwegian Food Safety Authority with professional advice in connection with the ongoing outbreak in bird colonies in Finnmark, has gone out and asked all pet owners to keep cats and dogs away from sick and dead birds. During the weekend alone, 3,000 dead birds were picked up in Vadsø. Photo: Knut-Sverre Horn / news On Monday, the bird flu virus was detected in a fox puppy that was recently found dead in Tromsø. To reduce the risk of infection, the cleaning crew in Vadsø has now started putting the dead birds in their own special containers. – New this weekend is that we put the dead birds into closed containers. It’s a bit more extensive work for us, because we have to put in one bird at a time, instead of throwing them “in bags”, as we did last week, says Pål Johnsen. Removing dead birds from roofs In Hammerfest, the fire service is helping to remove dead crutches from apartment building roofs in the center of the city. – We are not talking about such large quantities of dead birds as in Eastern Finnmark, but we are trying to do what we can to be prepared and to prevent further infection, says fire chief Arne Myrseth. Myrseth says they removed between 30 and 40 dead birds from one block of flats. – We also see a number of sick birds that do not move, says Myrseth. – Must accept dead birds On Friday, the municipalities in Troms and Finnmark had a meeting with the State Administrator, the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (FHI) and the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. There, Vadsø asked that they have to get more help. However, they have so far been refused. – The refusal means in practice that the population must for the time being accept that there are dead birds in many places, writes Vadsø mayor Wenche Pedersen in an update on Facebook. Crews in full infection control equipment from Vadsø municipality handle dead crutches as a result of the massive bird flu outbreak in the north. Photo: Knut-Sverre Horn / news On Friday, Agriculture and Food Minister Sandra Borch (Sp) said that she has asked to be kept informed about developments in the case. – The Norwegian Food Safety Authority continuously evaluates measures to prevent the spread of infection, she told NTB on Friday. The Institute of Public Health assesses the risk of infection to humans as very low.
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– It is catastrophic – news Troms and Finnmark
