Norway News Norway’s northern regions of Finnmark and Troms are battling the largest outbreak of bird flu ever seen in the country. More than 10,000 dead birds, mostly seagulls and the protected kittiwake, have been found in the Vadsø area alone and the virus was also found in a young dead fox in Tromsø.
On Monday Civil Defense troops were called in to help collect and dispose of dead birds found along the coast and farther inland. Local officials have been sending out calls for help for weeks, and Agriculture Minister Sandra Borch of the Center Party responded on Tuesday with plans to visit the Vadsø area on Thursday.
“This situation demands attention also at the national level,” Vadsø Mayor Wenche Pedersen of the Labour Party wrote in a letter to Borch on Monday. “We, therefore, repeat our invitation to come to Vadsø to see this wildlife tragedy that’s unfolding here.”
Pedersen was clearly frustrated by her own Labour-Center government for failing to offer more help earlier. Local officials are having to use major resources to clean up and try to prevent the spread of the virus. “A small municipality can’t take the responsibility alone when such a major challenge confronts us,” Pedersen wrote.