Massive Crow Deaths. …Bird Flu?

Okay. Now it's personal.

Crows dying all over India. A crow family of 50,000 in Jharkhand decimated by 40%. A family in Jamshedpur lost 2000 crows in just one week.

Is it H5N1 Bird Flu? Another sign of major ecological imbalance? Both? More? All of the above?

Statewide Zoo Alert on Crow Deaths

…Earlier, tests at Jamshedpur — considered to be the epicentre of crow deaths — revealed conflicting results. National Institute of Virology, Pune, drew a blank, the state animal husbandry department dithered about citing a specific virus and Indian Veterinary Research Institute in Bareilly said H5N1, one of the deadliest avian virus strains, was the culprit.

…the fear about human threat and possible pandemic is running high. …a bulletin of World Health Organisation says the worry is overrated.

Environment bodies, zoo authorities and ornithologists are deliberating on four main angles — the exact reason behind deaths, human and animal peril, the magnitude of dwindling numbers and finally, long-term ecological impact if the bird becomes endangered.

Ecologically, it hints towards a major imbalance.

If a study conducted by Jamshedpur ornithologist K.K. Sharma — who first sounded the alarm on the deaths — is to be believed, Jharkhand had around 50,000 house crows, but in just three months, the numbers are 40 per cent down.

Ornithologist K.K. Sharma, who authored the Jamshedpur study, says he doesn't think H5N1 bird flu is the cause - reminding people that a chemical called diclofenac, used to treat cattle, killed off the nations' vultures. Ooops.

Seems crows are following vultures and eagles into extinction.

Sharma said …he was sceptical about H5N1 virus as the cause.

“In the case of vultures, too, everyone spoke about a virus scare. With 1 per cent of vultures left, we realised that diclofenac, used to treat cattle, is behind the deaths,” he said.

He said crows were winging behind vultures and eagles to oblivion.

Crows: Friends of Man

Crows clean up human garbage - so they're exposed to a lot of toxins and pathogens. Perhaps they do help protect people from exposure by cleaning up. But what with all the toxins, chemicals and other contaminants in the environment, adding bird flu to the mix is just too much.

Birds or people, our body's systems are overstressed - and overwhelmed.

Wildlife activist D.S. Srivastava said crows were friends of man. “They are scavengers who clean up pathogens from garbage near homes, protecting children and elderly who have less immunity,”…

We cannot separate health from the environment. Not for crows, and not for ourselves. Time to pay attention.

Okay. Now it's personal.

I don't understand how crows dieing in India is personal. I know you said they clean up trash, but not OUR trash.

reply to post by TsukiLunar

I don't understand how crows dieing in India is personal.

It's a joke. ....

My name is sofi CROW.

Originally posted by soficrow
reply to post by TsukiLunar

 

I don't understand how crows dieing in India is personal.

It's a joke. ....

My name is sofi CROW.

Nice find! I wasn't aware of this. It's a shame that all these birds are dying, either option could be bad. If it's chemicals then it's bad for the people in that region, if it's bird flu, it could end up endangering everyone.

reply to post by soficrow


Oh, i see now. Cause you name has crow in it and your avatar is a space-crow. That's why its personal. Very clever you crow-man you.

Good thread- i think though this is related to the use of pesticides though as opposed to bird flu.
i watched a BBC documentary on the vulture deaths- the treatment that was given to the cattle meant that the vultures accumulated high amounts of the poison and died in huge numbers.
Since the vulture is a very important animal in Indian culture, due to it being used to 'remove dead bodies' ie the bodies of dead people are placed in outcrops etc.. and the vultures were allowed to eat them in a form of religious recycling.
The other side effect of the dying vulture population was that the feral dog population increased massively which led to 'wolf packs' roaming cities etc..
The crow serves a similar function to the vulture for removing waste and so once again there are going to be repercussions for the human population. India is not a sanitary country in the slightest, and by having the crows and vultures role reduced, will only lead to a greater risk of disease spreading. Yet, however, india does have a space programme and is taking huge amounts of foreign aid ....it can't seem to control its sewage/waste disposal.

www.birdlife.org...
a very easy google search to find out why the current crow population is dying.
bearing in mind that the Indian farmers have very little in the way of economic help from the government, it is not surprising that the use of diclofenac, which is a very cheap drug used as an anti-inflammatory agent in cattle and swine is still used, despite its ban in August 2010.

reply to post by crimsonred


Good posts and link. Thanks. ...I think we make a big mistake when we "blame" just one thing. Organisms in a healthy environment are able to survive a great deal - but when the environment is full of stressors like it is today, the self-healing mechanisms break down. Maybe the diclofenac tipped the scale - but maybe it's a distract and deflect cover-up.

Still, the fact that the chemical is still in use after being banned illustrates part of what's wrong with our world.

Turns out the "abnormal rise" in crow deaths is caused by H5N1 bird flu.

NCDC team advises health officials how to fight H5N1 virus

JAMSHEDPUR: A four-member team from the National Communicable Disease Centre (NCDC) Delhi on Saturday trained health officials on how human and poultry products could be protected from contagious disease with research reports concluding that H5N1 virus was behind the abnormal rise in the death of crows in the Steel City.

Greetings, old friend!
Soficrow--- I, too, have been concerned (understatement) re: bird deaths and possible flu link. I am reviewing an article and will post in the next few days if I think it has any science behind it.
Forgive any delay in response- have been quite ill but am working hard to get back---- and would- as always- value your read--- so- will be in touch. Hope you are well and sending Yule blessings.
Maybe we can get to the bottom of this, somehow!

Peace,
C

The crow deaths are spreading. ...Even if the "cause" is H5N1 bird flu, we need to recognize that pollution and industrial contamination already over-stress our and the crows' immune systems, and act to prevent our bodies from fighting off new infections.

Crow death specter spreads to Jajpur

Sudhanshu Parida, an environmentalist and the secretary of the district unit of People for Animals, which deals with environmental issues, on Thursday demanded a scientific study to find out the reason behind the spate of crow deaths in the state. Besides bird flu, various other factors like radiation from mobile phone towers, exposure to cold and other diseases could also be responsible for the crow deaths, Parida said.

He also stressed on the need to study behavioural pattern of the birds like where they build their nests, their eating habits and issues like pollution and the depleting green cover.

reply to post by CultureD


Happy New Year - good to see you around. Hope you're getting well, staying happy. Can't wait for your info.

~ sofi

I love crows.

Could it be West Nile?
It was West Nile here that just decimated our crow population.
It's really sad if you consider how crows live in families, a lot like we do.

reply to post by hadriana


The Jamshedpur outbreak was confirmed H5N1 bird flu - not sure yet about Jajpur. ...Whatever 'bug' it is, any epidemic shows ecology out of balance.

More on crow deaths here.

More on new mutations and outbreaks: Flu Watch 2012.