Bird flu dismissed as cause of Bahamas bird deaths
May 5th, 2006
Monday, March 6, 2006
MIAMI, USA (AFP): Bahamian authorities said Friday they were unable to determine with certainty what caused a spate of bird deaths, but have dismissed fears the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus had reached the Americas.
“All the carcasses were in an advanced state of decomposition, therefore no definite diagnosis could be made and no useful samples of internal organs could be recovered for testing,” the Agriculture Ministry said in a statement.
“Physical evidence indicated that the likely cause of death may have been due to trauma,” the statement said, adding that there were reports of duck hunting in the Inagua National Park where the 10 dead birds were found.
Bahamian authorities earlier dismissed suggestions the birds, including several flamingos, died of bird flu.
“Veterinary experts indicate that the presence of the deadly H5N1 would have decimated the large flock of flamingos and other birds on that island,” the ministry said earlier this week.
The ministry pointed out that other countries in the region have had similar scares, but that it turned out the birds died of other causes.
To date, the Western Hemisphere has had no confirmed case of H5N1 bird flu, which has spread from Asia to Europe, Africa and parts of the Middle East, killing more than 90 people since it surfaced in 2003.
The dead birds were found in a wildlife reserve on the southern Bahamas island of Great Inagua, which has a population of about 50,000 flamingos and a large lake popular with migrating birds.
The statement said no new incidents of bird deaths have been reported since on Inagua, but said the ministry “will continue to investigate all reports of unexplained bird mortality throughout the Bahamas.”
A team of experts was sent to the island earlier this week to investigate the bird deaths and collect samples. Authorities have expressed concern over the international attention given to the bird flu scare.
“Remember, the Bahamas is a tourism centre that attracts some five million tourists a year,” Agriculture Minister Leslie Miller told the Bahama Journal. “Luckily for us no outbreak has taken place,” he added.
Miller said reports of the suspicious bird deaths had caused a downturn in the stock of Kerzner International, which manages tourist resorts in the Bahamas.
Great Inagua, the southernmost island in the Bahamas chain is located 60 miles from Cuba and Haiti, and 530 miles from the United States.