Parks are closed and birds are culled due to bird flu in southern Spain

Authorities in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia have closed parks, including the famous Alcázar gardens in Seville, and culled poultry to prevent the spread of bird flu outbreaks.

“After the appearance of dead birds, the María Luisa park, an important green area in Seville, has been preventively closed,” the Andalusian capital’s City Council reported on the X network this Thursday (11).

“Subsequently,” “the removal of the corpses, cleaning and disinfection will be carried out,” continued the City Hall, which had already preventively closed three other parks in the city where dead birds had appeared, including the gardens of the Real Alcázar, one of the city’s most emblematic monuments.

“Three outbreaks of wild birds” were also detected in the Doñana National Park, in Huelva, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where “the birds were safely removed,” the region’s environmental official, Catalina García, reported on X.

The regional government of Andalusia said in a statement on Tuesday that it “keeps the protocol active to prevent the spread of bird flu and to contain infections in other areas,” following outbreaks detected on two farms in Huelva.

“Birds were sacrificed, in addition to the elimination of all contaminated materials or food,” he indicated, without specifying the number of animals sacrificed.

“The most important thing at this time is to act quickly (…) and adopt transversal measures that prevent the spread to other areas,” the statement said.

The Andalusian government highlighted that the transmission of bird flu “to people is very low”, although “those who may have had contact with birds” are under surveillance.

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