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Leer (dpa / lni) - An increasing number of dead wild birds have washed ashore along the Ems dykes in the Rheiderland in East Frisia.
On Friday alone, around 150 animals were found lifeless and collected, as the district of Leer announced.
The district's veterinary office assumes that the wild birds were killed by the currently rampant avian influenza.
Appropriate investigations were initiated to clarify this.
The Rheiderland between Ems and Dollart is used by many wild birds as a resting and passage area - the density of wild birds is correspondingly high.
According to the district, the highly contagious virus is still rampant among wild birds.
It can therefore be assumed that other dead birds will also be found in the hinterland away from the Ems and Dollart dikes.
In the past few months, outbreaks of the highly contagious animal infectious disease had occurred in several poultry farms.
Around one million animals were killed in Lower Saxony as a result.
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The district called on walkers and cyclists to avoid the affected areas along the Ems dike.
Contact with animals used should be avoided at all costs.
According to the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, avian flu occurs with different subtypes.
It was already known from several that people can become infected with it.
The infectious disease was considered harmless to humans.
Transmission via infected food is considered unlikely.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210409-99-144018 / 2