Latest news Vietnam: Dozens of tigers and lions die of bird flu
Alarm in Vietnamese zoos: According to reports, at least 47 tigers and three lions died of bird flu in two zoos near Ho Chi Minh City in the south of the country in August and September. Some of the dead animals were only a few weeks old, Vietnamese media reported, citing the authorities. More than 30 employees at the Mango Garden Resort and My Quynh Zoo had had direct contact with the animals. So far, however, none have shown respiratory symptoms.
04.10.2024, 08:11
SDA
Tests had shown that the big cats had died from the H5N1 influenza A virus, the report continued. According to the online newspaper "Tuoi Tre", the animal carcasses are to be destroyed to prevent further spread of the disease. This was decided at a meeting of the Animal Health Office and the Center for Disease Control together with foresters, police and local officials.
Animal rights activists are appalled
"The death of 47 tigers, three lions and one panther in the avian flu outbreak in Vietnam is tragic and highlights the risks of keeping wild animals in captivity," said the animal rights organization Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). In their natural habitat, tigers roam territories of up to 1,000 square kilometers "in a spatially complex and dynamic environment, in stark contrast to captivity in barren enclosures in zoos".
Keeping animals in zoos exposes them to diseases and stress to which they would not be helplessly exposed in the wild. "The exploitation of wild animals also endangers global human health by increasing the likelihood of another pandemic," Peta emphasized.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) had described the increase in bird flu cases in the Asia-Pacific region in July as "alarming". Bird flu, or avian influenza, is caused by influenza A viruses, like influenza in humans, but by different subtypes. The largest wave of bird flu ever documented is currently spreading across almost the entire world and also affecting Europe.
The pathogen mainly affects birds. However, mammals and, in rare cases, humans are sometimes infected, for example through intensive contact with infected animals. Human infections with the variant currently circulating worldwide have so far only been recorded in isolated cases. However, health experts warn of the risk of the virus adapting to humans and then being transmitted from person to person.
