image

epa09663632 Rangers from the Ministry of Agriculture, wearing personal protective equipment (PPE), retrieving dead cranes from the waters of the Hula Lake in the Hula Valley Nature Reserve, northern Israel, 02 January 2022. The Israeli Ministry of Health has closed the Hula Nature Reserve and tourist site to prevent a nationwide outbreak of H5N1 type Avian Influenza (bird flu), after 5,500 to 6, 000 migratory common cranes have died with bird flu, out of the 24,000 common cranes which populate the Hula Lake at this time of the year, according to Amir Atler of the Israeli Agriculture Ministry on 02 January. This is the first time Israel is facing the virus at such a scale as chicken farms in the area have also been affected although exact numbers are not available yet, added Atler. The ministry of agriculture and rural development has warned ‘the virus can infect humans who come into close contact with infected animals'. EPA/ABIR SULTAN ATTENTION: This Image is part of a PHOTO SET