KENYA - Mass death of flamingos

[Lyro]

LAKE NAKURU HIT BY NEW FLAMINGO DEATHS
By Steven Mkawale and Winnie Chumo (The Eastern Standard)

Mass death of flamingos has been reported in Lake Nakuru National Park.

But the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) on Tuesday ruled a bird flu outbreak as the cause of the deaths, which have occurred in the last two weeks.

KWS personnel have collected at least two truckloads of the dead migratory birds, which are the main tourist attraction at the lake. Senior KWS warden, Charles Muthui, said officials from the regional veterinary office and the wildlife organisation researchers had collected samples for testing.

He ruled out bird flu, adding that lack of fresh water was the possible cause of the deaths.

"The streams and rivers flowing into the lake have dried up due to destruction of Mau Forest, which is the main water catchment for the lake," he said.

Njoro, Makalia and Nderit rivers, which flow into the lake, have dried up. The shores of the shrinking lake are littered with stinking flamingo carcasses, which have put off tourists. Three months ago, hundreds of flamingos died, causing fears of an avian flu outbreak. KWS researchers and district veterinary officers tested 40 samples for the deadly disease.

Muthui said the park management had not received the test results and was forced to send more samples after the latest wave of deaths.

"We collected about 200 dead birds in the first week, and the numbers have increased," he said.

The park management committee has begun a re-afforestation campaign to encourage families allocated land in the forest to start planting trees.

Source: www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143955513

[Sharpe]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

For those who are wondering why the Rift Valley of western Kenya and eastern Uganda was first touted as the number one destination in Africa for bird flu-infected birds and then why no birds have ever been shown to be infected there, I've quoted below a collection of older articles about dead birds in the area for those who are interested.

Farmers count losses as bird flu fears spark panic vending

Story by NATION Correspondent
Publication Date: 4/17/2006


Fearing an outbreak of the dreaded avian flu, farmers are selling chicken at throwaway prices.

Poultry keepers in Nandi North and Nandi South districts have been selling the birds for as little as Sh50, instead of the normal market price of Sh350.

District agriculture officials said the farmers had incurred heavy losses, even as hoteliers licked their lips.

Restaurant owners in Kapsabet Town are incurring huge profits because despite the fall in live chicken prices, they have not adjusted dish prices downwards.

Other beneficiaries are traders from Western and Nyanza provinces, who have been flocking to the markets.

Broiler keepers are reporting heavy losses as hoteliers prefer indigenous breeds ? whose owners are accused of spreading the bird flu outbreak rumour in the first place.

Ministry officials have now been mobilised to tell farmers that the disease had not been diagnosed in the area.

Nandi North district poultry officer Sylvester Menjo said it was now two months since the farmers started panicking and selling their chicken cheaply.

Large birds are going for Sh30 to Sh70 at Chepterit, Lessos, Kabiyet, Mosoriot and Mogoon market centres.

Mr Menjo said officers had been put on the alert to deal with any emergency, and asked farmers to report to authorities any strange deaths of poultry.

Mr Philemon Berut, a prominent poultry and dairy farmer at Koilot in Nandi South District, said he had been forced to sell more than 300 layers for fear of bigger losses should there be a bird flu outbreak.

Mr Berut said he sold the birds at Sh70 each two weeks ago after reports that Kenya was likely to fall victim to bird flu. Thousands of flamingoes were reported to have died of a mysterious disease in Nakuru.

Mr Berut said for the last 12 years, he had kept broilers and layers, making a monthly profit of Sh14,000.

The farmer was forced to lay off six poultry workers, retaining only two workers for the dairy line.

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynat...=1&newsid=73648

Medic warns of likely outbreak of cholera

Story by PETER NG'ETICH and LUCAS NGASIKE
Publication Date: 5/23/2006
An alert has been issued on a likely outbreak of cholera and measles in Turkana District after two people were admitted to Lokichoggio hospital last week with suspected cases of cholera.

Public health officer Lucas Edete, who issued the alert urged the residents to observe hygiene order to avoid the spread of the diseases. Water for drinking should be always be boiled, he said.

He was addressing a meeting at Lomidat in Lokichoggio at the weekend.

Mr Edete said students, especially those in boarding schools, were at risk of contracting the disease because of environmental change owing to their different backgrounds and advised teachers to educate them on the need to maintain high hygienic standards.

On May 11, a 34-year-old refugee died out of cholera in Kakuma refugee camp in the area.

The refugee died at the International Rescue Committee (IRC) hospital in which 18 other people are admitted in serious condition. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Emanuel Nyabera confirmed the death.

He said they were handling about 194 cases in the camp with 91,000 refugees from Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Congo and Somalia.

Mr Nyabera said the outbreak followed the sweeping away of 256 toilets by floods on April 25 and 26.

Mr Edete said that four suspected cases of measles have been detected in the camp. He said doctors had collected blood samples from the patients and taken them to Nairobi for screening.

Elsewhere, councillor David Ekod has said that about 20,000 animals have been killed by a disease in Kerio Location in the past six months. Last month, he lost 300 goats to the disease which local people have named lojuro.

Keiyo district livestock development officer Christopher Ajele said the district steering group was aware and were carrying out investigations.

Area veterinary officer regretted that there was no drug to treat the animals, but he suspected the disease to be pneumonia.

Monday December 5, 2005


Experts investigate bird deaths on Lake Naivasha

Standard Reporter

Kenyan experts are testing dead birds on Lake Naivasha to ascertain if they died from pollution or bird flu.

The experts are drawn from Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), National Museums of Kenya and Universities.



David Kilo, a bird expert and chairman of the Lake Naivasha Anti-poaching unit, said several migratory birds had died on the lake.

?We have recorded between 8-10 dead Goshawk birds and on examining them we do not see any physical injury,? he said.



Kenya, which lies on the path of birds migrating from Europe, has been put on alert for a possible bird flu outbreak. The H5N1 strain of bird flu was reported in parts of Asia in 2003 and has so far killed more than 60 people and led to the culling of millions of poultry.



The virus, which is spread mainly by migratory birds, has also been reported in Russia and several European countries. Experts fear that the virus could mutate, making it possible to be passed from human to human.

Ethiopian authorities are also testing pigeons found dead in the east of the country for bird flu.

Kenya: Newcastle Disease Suspected in Poultry Deaths

The East African Standard (Nairobi)
April 7, 2006
Posted to the web April 6, 2006

Antony Gitonga
Nairobi

The mysterious disease that has killed dozens of birds in Lake Naivasha could be Newcastle.

Initial tests on the dead birds showed that they had the incurable poultry disease. Scores of birds have also died in villages bordering the lake. Dr Kaba Githui said tests on the dead chicken had showed that they succumbed to the disease.

"We took several samples of the dead chicken and after analysing them, it has emerged that they died of Newcastle disease," he said.

But he said the tests were yet to establish what had killed migratory and resident birds in the lake.

"We have taken the dead birds to our laboratories in Nairobi and tests are still going on to determine the cause of deaths," he said.

He said the only way to curb the disease was immunising the birds while they were still young. According to locals, the chicken deaths were first noticed last weekend but the number rose on Thursday.

The birds lay scattered in the DCK trading centre, while others could be seen staggering, too weak to walk.

"The chicken started to diarrhoea and after some time they just collapsed and died as we watched," said John Wafula.

In the last couple of weeks, a number of birds have died in Lake Naivasha with the Ibis, Spa geese and sand pipers been the most affected.

The lake is on the route for birds from Europe and their deaths have raised fears that avian flu that had been detected in some African countries had reached the country.

http://allafrica.com/stories/200604060902.html

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/n...leid=1143950470
Tuesday April 4, 2006
Bird deaths cause panic in Naivasha

By Antony Gitonga

A mysterious disease has killed more than 20 birds in Naivasha, spreading fear about the avian flu.

The most affected are the sacred ibis and sand piper species.

Spa wing gooses, which migrate from Egypt, have also been found dead. Already, the flu has been detected in a North African country, where one person died after being infected.

According to Kimani Waraga, a bird guide, more than 20 birds have died in the last two days.

"Some were on trees while others were floating at the shore of the lake," he said.

"At first we thought they were normal deaths, but the rate at which the birds are dying is worrying," he said.

He appealed to the Government to send experts to test the birds.

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/13/494791
Govt probes bird deaths
Monday, 24th April, 2006
E-mail article E-mail article Print article Print article

By Cyprian Musoke

THE Government is probing reports of dead poultry and other animals in some parts of the country in it s bid to guard against the deadly bird flu virus, general duties minister Mondo Kagonyera has said.

Kagonyera, a veterinary doctor who heads the cabinet committee on surveillance of the bird flu, told Parliament on Friday that the Government was concerned about the possibility of the disease breaking out in Uganda.

This followed concerns raised by the chairman of the agriculture, animal industry and fisheries committee, John Odit, that he had received reports of death of chicken and other domestic animals in several parts of the country.
Kagonyera said he would immediately ascertain that the deaths were not related to bird flu.

?I was not aware of the mortalities. The ministry of agriculture has been duly notified to make sure they find out what disease it is,? Kagonyera said.

He said bird flu had come as near as Nigeria, Niger and Egypt, but Uganda was lucky not to have detected any cases. He said east coast fever, swine fever, foot and mouth diseases can break out in new territories when it rains.

He asked all leaders and the public to contact the nearest veterinary officers or ministry of health officials, if they get reports of massive animal deaths.

Explain bird deaths, govt told
Thursday, 20th April, 2006
E-mail article E-mail article Print article Print article

By Vision Reporters

MPS have asked the Government to explain reports of deaths of poultry and animals in different parts of the country.

The chairman of the agriculture, animal industry and fisheries committee, John Odit, raised the concerns on Tuesday, saying he had received reports of deaths of chickens and other domestic animals.

?Of late I have received cases of high mortality rates of poultry, with a lot of farmers losing chicken from an unknown disease,? he said.

He said 3,000 chicken were reported to have died in Makerere, 5,000 in Amolatar, and that farmers in Moyo were burning pigs that had died of African swine fever.

He said he had also received reports of East Coast fever and swine fever, which are all contagious diseases, and asked the ministry to explain whether if the rural illiterates consumed dying animals, they would not spark off an epidemic in humans.

He said many animals were being imported from Tanzania and the DRC, which increased the risk of spread of disease.

[Lyro]

KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

A collegue of mine told me that the "lack of fresh water" (reported by the Kenya Wildlife Service) could be a very probable cause of death, although outbreaks of H5N1 are "just a matter of time".

At first, when I read the article by Steven Mkawale and Winnie Chumo of The Eastern Standard, I understood that flamingos were dying of thirst...

Instead, my collegue explained that flamingos could have been "poisoned by the toxic pollution flowing into the lake from nearby streams and rivers. Kenya's drought had reduced the amount of water in the lake, concentrating the pollution."

He was informed about the flamingo situation when he visited Lake Nakuru last March. He met an ornithologist working at the Lake Nakuru National Park. About 200 flamingos were dying daily at the lake, but he added that this is a very small percentage of the total population of birds living there.

Il a aussi mentionn? qu'il a trouv? que l'eau sentait tr?s mauvais!

Les explications apport?es par mon coll?gue m'ont aid?e ? mieux comprendre la situation des flamands roses, et je crois qu'il n'y a pas lieu de suspecter des cas de grippe aviaire dans cette r?gion pour le moment.

[LMonty]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

if the lake is drying- I assume the shoreline is receding. That means the muck underneath may be exposed, and bird feces along with it- in a moist enviorment that might favor viral survival?

I wonder if that set of circumstances might be part of the problem. The thing I'm wondering about is temperature- would it be too warm for the virus to survive long? Any virus that is spread among migratory birds might be able to take advantage of the enviorment to survive longer outside the host and thus increase spread if its not too hot. Add decreased immune function if food is harder to find, and generalized stress-sounds like the population may be high risk for infection.

Just some thoughts- any ideas/comments?

[Sharpe]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

Good points, LMonty. I think the most likely explanation is simply that birds continue flying north and south through the Rift Valley, and each time the next wave comes through, the vulnerable birds die off. The vulnerable birds are mostly the ones less than a year old--which is why only some of the flamingoes die, some of the chickens die, etc. And it continues on like this, and will continue indefinitely every month from now on, until either large enough populations become relatively immune or they just die off. That process may take years however, and will involve the continuous evolution of numerous strains of bird flu. Why has this not occurred in the past? It has, but to a lesser extent--but over the last forty years the world's bird population has more than tripled because of the introduction of a population of mass-produced domesticated birds that create the ideal environment for super-highly pathogenic strains of influenza that are now being carried around the world continuously by long-range birds. That's why now and not then. Your other question is about temperature. That has little effect. In fact, to the contrary, where have been the worst-hit countries in the world? Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, most likely India--not the coldest locales around, if you know what I mean.

[JJackson]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

Lake Nakuru - like many of the flamingo lakes - is a Soda Lake and I am not sure how that would effect the viability of the virus in the environment. I used to visit some of these lakes to see the flamingos and the water is quite toxic to most thing. The flamingos like them because they feed on the algae that thrive in the water. When the lakes recede in the dry season the salts in the water become even more concentrated.

[JJackson]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

When I say salts I was not meaning NaCl i.e. saline.

From http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/afr/afr-07.html

The lake is a soda-lake with a water pH value of 10.5 and an alkalinity of 122 meq l-1. Main ions are sodium and bicarbonate-carbonate. The biota in the lake is very simple as in other saline lakes, consisting of phytoplankters dominated by blue-green algae and very poor planktonic and benthic fauna originally lacking fish. However, the lake is highly eutrophic owing to the vigorous growth of a planktonic blue-green alga, Spirulina platensis, which supports an immense number of alga.grazing lesser flamingo

[JJackson]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

I should have added that it is also very salty. The Soda lakes provide an extreme enviroment. Typically they are very shallow, often have no rivers flowing out of them and so are hot and carry very little disolved oxygen.

The chloride ion concentration for Lake Nakuru was listed as 1390 mg/l for comparison Lake Victoria is about 15 mg/l. Lake Nakuru is one of the most alkaline lakes in the world.

Tip - dont go for a swim.

[wetDirt]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/40385000/jpg/_40385705_deadflamingosap203bok.jpg&imgrefurl=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3896907.stm&h=152&w=203&sz=11&hl=en&start=1&tbnid=rd9HJf9zy6jdIM:&tbnh=79&tbnw=105&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dflamingo%2Bdeaths%26svnum%3D10%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D

The above link is to a BBC story with a picture. The decompositon of the head and the dark feet are interesting. The picture is pretty consistent with what we have seen in other bird die-offs of H5N1.

[Siamese]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

Yes, that story of Wetdirt's is in Tanzania at a different lake , so it is spreading as both countries are side by side.

[Mingus]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

About salt:

No salt at all make the cell wall of bacteria to breake down because caused by the osmotic pressure.
Too much salt make a cell to shrink because of that same osmosis force that equilibrium the salt concentration inside and outside of a cell.
The right salt concentration (isotonic) make cells viable longer because there is no osmotic presure on them.

Influenza virus have no cell but have a liposaccharide enveloppe that came from the cells it infect and that may be on pressure from the osmosis forces.

Do this lake is isotonic ?
Qinghai's lake is a salty lake;
Ubsu-Nur lake (Tuve's die-off of this year) also was salty;

Qinghai's lake = 12.49 grams per liter (PH 9.0 to 9.5). http://www.flutrackers.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7460 (PH 9.0 to 9.5)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sodium_chloride

0.9% sodium chloride in water is called a physiological solution because it is isotonic with blood plasma. It is known medically as normal saline. Physiological solution is the mainstay of fluid replacement therapy that is widely used in medicine in prevention or treatment of dehydration, or as an intravenous therapy to prevent hypovolemic shock due to blood loss.

The information in the tuve's thread was false, I'm sorry, I had asked to the lab microbiologist but I did'nt verify...

0.9% sodium chloride = .9g/100g h2o = 0.9g / 100ml = 9g/1000ml = 9g/l
so Quigai lake is near isotonic
and the basic PH contribute to the virus stability.

but 10.5 with sodium bicarbonate may be a little bit ... hard!

Lake Nakuru was listed as 1390 mg/l

so 1.39g/l ... but there is not just NaCL in water so...

Seem like this lake water can be a preservative for virus... except that I am not sure of the bicarbonate effect ??

This is just a hypothesys...

[Mingus]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

Ok guys,

Check this old study!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=3962182&dopt=Abstract

1: Virologie. 1986 Jan-Mar;37(1):55-60. Related Articles, Links

Influence of organic solvents and pH on some characteristics of influenza virus A(H1N1). Note 2. Effect of pH on some spectral and structural characteristics of influenza virus A(H1N1).

Zaharia CN, Dumitrescu SM, Petrescu A.

Spectrophotometric determinations as regards absorption at 280 nm, 260 nm and 224-237 nm, emission at 280-350 nm and light scattering at 550 nm were performed with suspensions of influenza virus A/Brasil/11/78 (H1N1) over a pH range from 2 to 12. The results obtained proved that changes in spectral parameters were minimal in the pH range from 6 to 10, a fact which could be correlated both with the preservation of the intact virion structure (as visualized by electron microscopy) and with the domain of biological stability of influenza virus.

PMID: 3962182 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

But that said, those flamingos could as well being killed by blue algua...

But alkalines salty lakes and sea water sure can preserve virions better than acidic unsalty lake or river water...

[Lyro]

KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

Thank you, Mingus, for reminding us that the flamingos could have died from some other cause than bird flu...

My collegue told me once more that IT'S UNLIKELY that the Kenyan flamingos have H5N1, for the reasons stated in my post from July 19th, 2006 9:03 AM.

He added: "It's also worth remembering that many of the birds visiting Lake Nakuru, including the flamingos, only travel on a short shuttle run between a few lakes in Kenya and neighboring Tanzania, from what I understand."

[Mingus]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

What are blue-green algae?

http://www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/water/bluegreenalgae.htm

What are blue-green algae?

Blue-green algae, technically known as cyanobacteria, are microscopic organisms that are naturally present in lakes and streams. They usually are present in low numbers. Blue-green algae can become very abundant in warm, shallow, undisturbed surface water that receives a lot of sunlight. When this occurs, they can form blooms that discolor the water or produce floating rafts or scums on the surface of the water.
What are the potential health effects from drinking or coming in contact with water containing blue-green algae?

Some blue-green algae produce toxins that could pose a health risk to people and animals when they are exposed to them in large enough quantities. Health effects could occur when surface scums or water containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins are swallowed, through contact with the skin or when airborne droplets containing toxins are inhaled while swimming, bathing or showering.

Consuming water containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins has been associated with effects on the liver and on the nervous system in laboratory animals, pets, livestock and people. Livestock and pet deaths have occurred when animals consumed very large amounts of accumulated algal scum from along shorelines.

Direct contact or breathing airborne droplets containing high levels of blue-green algal toxins during swimming or showering can cause irritation of the skin, eyes, nose and throat and inflammation in the respiratory tract.

Well... it can !

[wetDirt]

Re: KENYA - Mass death of flamingos, not bird flu?

Let's review a bit: Flamingos have been around for about 1,000,000 years. The Rift Valley the same. These saline lakes have been around for at least half a million years. The climate is semiarid, with periodic droughts. The lakes are shallow, saline, and full of flamingo poop. Other birds visit the lakes, including seagull-types, which are also adaped to saline water. Blue-green algae thrive in water with a lot of nitrate, that is, bird poop. So there is nothing unusual about flamingoes being exposed to algae, and it is likely their gut tolerates the toxins because flamingoes aren't long-distance migratory birds as you point out. They are stuck where they are, for better or for worse. I suspect it's not the resident flamingoes, but the transient gulls that are the source of any incoming diseases. It seems too much of a coincidence that isolated lakes are having the same problem at the same time, that it is affecting hundreds of birds, and that there are known outbreaks of H5N1 in the area. I would be really interested in knowing whether there is a simultaneous dieoff of hyenas or wild pigs in the area. Hmmmm... checking.

OK, I'm back. I can't find evidence of predator dieoffs this year or last. There was also a flamingo dieoff last year, around May. There was a report stating that toxins were found at necropsy, but it isn't clear whether they are also found in healthy birds (if all the birds are exposed, then why did only these die?) I can't say I'm convinced one way or the other. Until reports of hyena deaths surface, it's still open.