The archipelago is listed as World Heritage of Humanity for the richness of its fauna and flora. A sanitary emergency has been set up in Ecuador after the discovery of cases in the center.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
It is a biosphere reserve unique in the world. To protect the wild birds of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador mobilizes after the detection of an avian flu epidemic in the center of the country, the Ministry of the Environment announced on Friday, December 2.
It is a question of “adopting preventive measures” to guarantee the safety of birds and poultry production in the archipelago, located 1,000 km from the Ecuadorian coast, said the ministry in a press release.
“Permanent surveillance has been organized in areas of larger influx of sea birds, some of which are migratory”, specifies in the document the director of the Galapagos National Park, Danny Rueda.
Penguins, albatrosses and endemic cormorants
listed as World Heritage of Humanity, the Galapagos archipelago is considered a biosphere reserve for its unique fauna and flora in the world. In particular, it houses a diversity of wild birds, some of which are endemic such as penguins, pinsons, albatros, cormorants and hawks.
This archipelago, which owes its name to the giant sea turtles that live there, has 35 poultry farms, according to the authorities.
Ecuador declared a 90 -day health emergency on Wednesday after the detection of an avian flu epidemic in farms in the center of the country. To contain the propagation of the disease, the authorities ordered the slaughter of around 180,000 poultry on affected farms.
The Ecuadorian poultry sector includes 263 million chickens and 16 million laying hens. It generates approximately $ 1.8 billion per year and some 300,000 jobs.
Peru and Venezuela also affected
Peru, also affected by the H5N1 avian flu, recorded the death of nearly 14,000 sea birds, including a majority of Pélicans, in recent weeks, according to the forest and wildlife service ( Serfor). The latter announced Thursday the slaughter of some 37,000 poultry infected by the virus in a farm north of Lima.
Venezuela, on the other hand, said a 90 -day health alert on Friday in five coastal states after cases of avian influenza were detected for the first time in the country with Pélicans. During the alert state, the movement of living birds in quarantine areas is prohibited while “manifestations, fairs and exhibitions of poultry with the presence of birds and pigs” are prohibited, according to the authorities.
Avar flu is an incurable and without treatment disease which leads to significant mortality among wild and domestic birds.