A bird flu outbreak has killed more than 2,000 wild cranes on a reserve in northern Israel, an extremely high toll for the seasonal disease, the parks authority said on Sunday. According to Ohad Hatsofe, an expert with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, another 10,000 are believed to be affected, in addition to the 2,000 dead. ‘The virus affects Israel every year, but this year’s outbreak is substantially larger than previous years’, said Uri Naveh, a senior scientist at park authority
Since October, about 100,000 wild cranes have arrived in Israel, the majority stopping in the Hula Valley, an essential halt on their migratory trek to Africa. Around 40,000 cranes are estimated to have remained in the valley.
According to Israel’s agriculture ministry, the avian flu ravaging the population, H5N1, has been identified in several chicken populations in northern Israel. Egg sales from the affected farms have been halted by the ministry. It is rare for H5N1 to spread among humans, but there have been past outbreaks.
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