More than 60 dead birds were found at Billington Sea in Plymouth over the weekend. Local experts suspect the avian flu was the culprit.
When the Cape Wildlife Center started receiving reports of dead Canada geese, swans and other waterfowl in Plymouth, executive director Zak Mertz went to check it out. That’s according to Dr. Priya Patel, the medical director of the New England Wildlife Centers, which includes Cape Wildlife.
“(Merz) did see several dead geese and swans, as well as ones that were acting sick,” Dr. Patel said. “However, they were far out on the ice and not easily reachable. So we started triaging phone calls, contacting state agencies to collect these birds, test them, and potentially get those sick ones off the ice.”
The state Division of Fisheries and Wildlife, the state Department of Environmental Protection, the Plymouth health department, the Plymouth fire department, and other organizations came to help, along with Dr. Patel.
Then, Cape Wildlife Center staff collected samples for testing.
In addition to the dead birds, there were several that were sick, Dr. Patel said.
“They were severely neurologic, some of them seizing, circling,” she said. “At those stages, the prognosis for a recovery is very poor, so it’s more humane to euthanize at that point.”
Because Dr. Patel is a licensed veterinarian, and she got permission from MassWildlife, she was able to euthanize the affected birds on site. This was less stressful for the birds than being transported to a facility to be euthanized, she explained.
Humans rarely catch the avian flu, Dr. Patel said. However, it’s still a good idea to exercise caution.
“If you do see sick or dead birds, please don’t approach them, don’t pick them up, don’t let your pets near them,” she said.
If you find a sick or dead bird, report it to MassWildlife and your local animal control, Dr. Patel said.
Dr. Patel noted that cats—and to a lesser extent, dogs—can be infected with the avian flu.
This story was originally published by CAI.
