SA's coastal birds conservationists warn of bird flu uptick in WC

CAPE TOWN - The South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB) is warning that cases of bird flu are on the rise in the Western Cape.  

The Western Cape Agriculture Department has confirmed bird flu has been detected in farm ducks near Paarl in early July.  

This comes after the virus was found in chickens in the North West and Mpumalanga provinces recently.

However, these are the first cases reported by the Western Cape since April 2024.  

SANCCOB clinical veterinarian David Roberts said symptoms of infected birds include twitching, seizures and showing fear of humans.

"So, we're constantly counting and the numbers change every day, but we’ve had over a hundred cases that's been confirmed. Most of those are the hartlaub’s gulls, the small seagulls concentrated in Robben Island, but all over the Cape Town area we’ve been getting calls from the public, people finding sick and dead birds.”