Bird flu, also known as avian flu or avian influenza, has been detected in Spitsbergen in June for the first time. It is the first evidence for this virus in the Arctic.
Scientists expected the arrival of the bird flu virus in Svalbard now because of a major recent outbreak of the disease amonst Barnacle geese in England and Scotland. Birds from this population migrate up to Svalbard to breed there during the summer. You can see Barnacle geese and others, mainly pink-footed geese, in and near Longyearbyen in large numbers in the early summer before they spread to the breading areas.
Barnacle geese are potential carriers of the bird flu virus (here in Ny-Ålesund).
The bird flu virus was now found in a dead glaucous gull that was found near the harbour in Longyearbyen, as NRK reports.
Bird flu is highly infectious and very dangerous for birds, both wild and domestic ones. Experts fear potentially disastrous consequences for domestic bird stocks in mainland Norway and wild bird populations both there and in Svalbard.
Report to the Sysselmester if you find a dead bird or an alive one that shows strange behaviour, but do not touch or handle dead birds or bird droppings. The risk of an infection for humans, however, is described as low.
By the way, my new book is in print and it can now be ordered 🙂 it is a photo book with the title “Norwegens arktischer Norden (3): Die Bäreninsel und Jan Mayen”, with German text Click here for further details!
This and other publishing products of the Spitsbergen publishing house in the Spitsbergen-Shop.
Norwegens arktischer Norden (1): Spitzbergen
Photobook: Norway's arctic islands. The text in this book is German. [shop url="https://shop.spitzbergen.de/en/polar-books/70-norwegens-arktischer-norden-1-aerial-arctic-9783937903262.html"] ← Back
Lofoten, Jan Mayen and Spitsbergen from the air - Photobook: Norway's arctic islands. The text in this book is German, but there is very little text, so I am sure that you will enjoy it regardless which languages you read (or not).
The companion book for the Svalbardhytter poster. The poster visualises the diversity of Spitsbergen‘s huts and their stories in a range of Arctic landscapes. The book tells the stories of the huts in three languages.
Comprehensive guidebook about Spitsbergen. Background (wildlife, plants, geology, history etc.), practical information including travelling seasons, how to travel, description of settlements, routes and regions.
Join an exciting journey with dog, skis and tent through the wintery wastes of East Greenland! We were five guys and a dog when we started in Ittoqqortoormiit, the northernmost one of two settlements on Greenland’s east coast.
12 postcards which come in a beautifully designed tray. Beautiful images from South Georgia across Antarctica from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Ross Sea and up to Macquarie Island and Campbell Island.