Department of Environmental Management urges public to avoid dead birds after gull tests positive for bird flu

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — The Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management is urging the public to avoid dead birds along the coast, after a gull tested positive for bird flu last month.

The Great Black-Backed Gull was found sick on a beach in South Kingstown on June 23. The gull was tested for bird flu and came back positive.

However, officials said that a group of dead Shearwaters that were found on Rhode Island beaches did not have bird flu.

The department is recommending that beachgoers avoid dead birds along the coast.

The Center for Disease Control’s website reads, “Avian influenza A viruses have been isolated from more than 100 different species of wild birds around the world. These viruses occur naturally among wild aquatic birds worldwide and can infect domestic poultry and other bird and animal species.”

Anyone who finds a dead bird is asked to report it to the Rhode Island Division of Fish and Wildlife on its website.