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Avian botulism reason for bird deaths
Why in news?
- The Indian Veterinary Research Institute (IVRI), Bareilly, on 21 Nov confirmed avian botulism — a neuromuscular illness caused by a toxin which is produced by a bacterial strain — as the reason for mass mortality of birds, including migratory species from Northern Asia, at Sambhar Lake in Rajasthan
More in news
- Bacterium - Clostridium botulinum: affects the nervous system of birds, leading to flaccid paralysis in their legs and wings and neck touching the ground.
- Sample testing:
- Veterinarians in the State had earlier predicted of this disease infecting birds.
- The scientists at IVRI found the samples infested with maggots of third stage with a clear indication that avian mortality had occurred over a period of time.
- Environmentalists and Ornithologists Concerned: More than 18,000 carcasses have been removed from the lake & its catchment area.
- IVRI report had approved the regimen of treatment adopted for birds recovered from the lake’s shores.
- The rescue centres established near the lake have treated 735 birds, of which 368 are alive and 36 have been released to their natural habitat.
Sources
The Hindu