More dead white-cheeked geese have been found in North Karelia in eastern Finland, and the wellbeing services county has received reports of birds behaving oddly. Marja Tuomainen, director of environmental health care at the North Karelia wellbeing services county, said new sightings came from several locations on Tuesday morning, Yle reported.
Bird flu has been suspected as the cause of the mass deaths, but no disease was found in the first samples taken from Tohmajärvi. Tuomainen said bird flu cannot yet be fully ruled out because results have so far come back from only one location. She did not want to guess what other disease might be involved.
Veterinarians have caught the strangely behaving birds and sent samples to the Finnish Food Authority, Ruokavirasto. Results will take from a few days to a week. "We've had messages from cottage owners that there are birds at the shore that come close and don't take off. It's as if the birds' understanding is lacking," Tuomainen said.
By Tuesday afternoon, dead birds had been found in several places, with the most carcasses in Tohmajärvi, Viinijärvi in Liperi, and Niittylahti and Hammaslahti in Joensuu. On Monday the number was estimated at about one hundred, but the county no longer has a precise figure.
Jarkko Hyvärinen said he has collected 60 dead birds this week alone from the shore at Viinijärvi, where more than one hundred birds have now been gathered. He believes not all the dead geese will even be found. "Hopefully frost comes soon, otherwise there will be rotting birds in that terrain and in the water bodies," he said.
The county has advised landowners to bury dead birds deep enough that predators cannot dig them up. Tuomainen reminded them not to bury carcasses in groundwater areas. "Dead birds should not be touched with bare hands. A respirator should also be used," she said.
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