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At the beginning of the interview, provincial government officials mentioned the epidemic situation in the province. “We’ve had outbreaks in our sea lion population in the last few days. We’ve found this species in coastal areas, that is, everywhere there are settlements,” he said.
In this sense, he stated: “Unfortunately, we have two cases in the Punta Loyola area that were sampled by SENASA veterinarians and tested positive for avian influenza.”
“We ask people to be careful and take precautions when fishing or approaching places where sea lions live. Also, please inform local authorities as we work with the Land Council, the Environment Minister, municipalities and others,” he added.
Regarding the work being done in Punta Loyola, he mentioned that they had “help from the YCRT, providing machinery and drivers to bury the animals.”
On the other hand, he made it clear that it affects people too. “After we detected bird flu, we worked on a specific protocol to take care of our health, because it’s a disease that spreads among birds to other species, but humans can also be infected,” he said. described.
“Within their care, they should do the same with their pets, ideally confining their animals so they don’t walk freely through areas where there may be dead sea lions,” he said.
These days, several videos of dead guanacos have been posted on social networks, he said. “We have found guanaco deaths in areas of the province very close to Río Gallegos, but we attribute these deaths to nutritional problems. Guanacos are vulnerable to cold, snow or frost for many days. Therefore, they congregate Waiting to die in places like the little lowlands or canyons.”
He added: “Anyone who sees a debilitated animal with epilepsy or respiratory issues should notify us because we have to go there to collect a sample or at least verify it.”
Finally, it bodes well for the duration of this outbreak. “We’re confident this won’t last more than 20 or 30 days, although we have to be very careful.”