(Montevideo) Nearly 400 sea lions and sea lions have been found dead on the Uruguayan coast in recent weeks, the authorities announced Thursday, who attribute this massacre to avian flu.
Since the discovery of a first case of H5 avian flu on September 5, on a sea lion stranded on Cerro beach in Montevideo, the Uruguayan Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries has been closely monitoring the epidemiological situation of these marine mammals. .
This recent massacre is attributed to avian flu, Carmen Leizagoyen, responsible for wildlife at the Uruguayan Ministry of the Environment, explains to AFP.
Of the 400 corpses washed up on the southern Atlantic coast of Uruguay, 350 have already been buried to prevent any spread of the virus.
“We cannot control this disease. We just have to wait for the immunity of this population to take effect, but we don’t know when that will happen,” explains M.me Leizagoyen, adding that Uruguayan authorities were continuing their research to determine the origin of the infection.
The Uruguayan Ministry of Livestock, Agriculture and Fisheries, for its part, indicated that no outbreak of avian flu had been detected in wild or domestic birds. He also clarified that fish populations were not threatened.
In Uruguay, the total population of sea lions and sea lions reaches 315,000 mammals.
Avian flu is a disease that has no cure or treatment. The H5 virus causes serious muscular, neurological and respiratory damage.