(Newser)
– Throughout the pandemic, health experts have discouraged people from gathering in large groups to help stop the spread of COVID-19. Now, wildlife biologists are advising bird enthusiasts to join together to prevent birds from gathering in an effort to reduce growth in cases of salmonellosis, a deadly, rapidly spreading intestinal disease, SFGate reports. And that means eliminating bird feeders and baths from their property. In recent months, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has been “flooded” with calls from people finding sick or dead birds to bird feeders, the agency said in a statement. Birds contract salmonellosis, which is caused by Salmonella when they ingest food or water or come in contact with objects that are contaminated with feces from an infected bird. Most birds die within a day of infection, a bird disease specialist tells LiveScience.
Pine siskins, a type of synthesis, was the hardest hit. But the disease has also been reported in smaller deer and American bricks. In California, reports of infected birds came largely from communities on the Central Coast, Bay Area and Sierra Nevada, authorities say. But reports of a “worrying number” of infected birds also come from across the country. News and observer reports that people in North Carolina are being asked to take off their power supplies. The same is true for South Carolina residents State. “Keeping clean bird food and temporarily removing it for the next few weeks is something people can do to keep birds safe” as they migrate north over the next four weeks, says an expert on the number of migrating birds this year. – is the largest in the last ten years, according to the Audubon Company. (Read more stories about dead birds.)