– Largest outbreak of bird flu in wild birds Norway has seen – news Troms and Finnmark

The restaurant “Havhesten” in Vadsø closed its doors today. Co-owner Eva Lyngvær says they have stopped counting the number of dead birds around the house. – There is so much, I don’t know. Due to the serious situation with bird flu along the coast of Finnmark, she saw it as irresponsible to operate normally. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority says that this is the largest outbreak of bird flu in wild birds Norway has seen. – Very serious There are big dark figures related to how many birds are now dying from bird flu. Ingunn Midttun Godal, managing director of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, describes the situation as very serious. – It is of course serious for the birds that die, but especially for endangered species that are on crutches. Ingunn Midttun Godal, managing director of the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, describes the situation with bird flu as very serious. Photo: Hanna Johre / Hanna Johre Godal explains that the disease has reached a new constant, with faster outbreaks. – It is reasonable to assume that there are several thousand dead birds, and that this is the largest outbreak of bird flu Norway has seen. The Norwegian Food Safety Authority cooperates with the municipalities, the State Administrator in Troms and Finnmark, the Veterinary Institute, the Norwegian Environment Agency, SNO, FHI, and NINA to prevent spread. In addition to wild birds, the Norwegian Food Safety Authority is concerned about the consequences bird flu may have for commercial poultry farms – those that produce eggs and chicken, which there are few of in Finnmark. – Then we see that it has local consequences and we are also concerned about that. Stepping over bird carcasses Eva Lyngvær chose to close the doors to the restaurant “Havhesten” on Wednesday. The restaurant is located close to Ekkerøy Fuglefjell in Vadsø. In the last week, she has had to step over bird carcasses to get into the restaurant. In recent days, dead birds have fallen from the roof of the restaurant “Havhesten” in Vadsø. Photo: Hanne Wilhelms / news – The roof fills, and throughout the evening, night and the day after, they die. Lyngvær, who co-owns the restaurant, no longer sees staying open as an option. – We have decided to close. I believe that staying open is not responsible. Fuglefjellet on Ekkerøy is a popular tourist destination in the summer. Earlier in July, a dozen dead crutches were burned on the peninsula. On Wednesday, the number of picked bird carcasses in Vadsø passed 3,000. Photo: Hanne Wilhelms / news Pål Johnsen, operations manager in Vadsø municipality, tells news on Wednesday that they have picked over 3,000 dead birds since Friday. – We have used all our resources to pick what is dead. The municipality is now closely monitoring whether the number of dead birds will eventually decrease.



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