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[1] A curious seagull strolled through the penguin enclosure at a zoo in Paris. It looked harmless enough, but the seagull could pose a threat to the penguins. A devastating bird flu outbreak has killed hundreds of millions of birds worldwide over the last few years. That is why 41 Humboldt penguins were queued up near their pool in the Paris Zoological Park on a cold December morning at the start of influenza season.
[2] A zookeeper whispered some reassuring words to one called Cissou as a veterinarian injected him with his annual bird flu vaccine shot. After getting his jab, Cissou waddled off back into his enclosure. Around 10 zoo staff members took the opportunity to weigh and measure the penguins, collect feathers, take blood samples, examine their feet and check their microchips.
[3] The zoo, which is in Vincennes park in the east of the French capital, has never detected a case of bird flu. But it is home to wild birds such as crows, magpies, geese and parakeets, and an outbreak would be catastrophic for the zoo animals. French health authorities warned that this bird flu season was already looking like it would be the worst in a couple of years.
[4] Bird flu was detected in Antarctica for the first time in 2023, causing concern among scientists about the fate of the penguins there. Sylvie Laidebeure, a vet at the Paris zoo, said that these animals are generally threatened in their natural habitat, which is classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
[5] The only birds to get a jab at the zoo are those that live outdoors or in enclosures with mesh that could allow them to come into contact with wild birds. These include hornbills, vultures, rheas and ostriches, marabou storks and cranes. Though the practice remains rare across Europe, France has been vaccinating birds against avian influenza in zoos since 2006. That was long before it became the first European country to vaccinate ducks in farms nationwide in 2023, using the same vaccine at a different dosage.
[6] That extra two decades of experience have led to several scientific publications, Laidebeure said. It also helped scientists learn how well the vaccine worked on different species – and showed that it was safe and effective. “I think that helped reassure people,” before it was rolled out on farms, Laidebeure said.
Source: Agence France-Presse, December 5
