Visitors to Northumberland are being warned not to touch dead seabirds after several have washed up on the coast in recent days.
One resident reported seeing around 10 birds washed up on Bamburgh Beach, while there have been more than 30 at popular beauty spot Druridge Bay. Dead birds have also been reported at Amble, Warkworth, Newbiggin-by-the-Sea, Cresswell and Seaton Sluice.
It is feared that the deaths are connected to an outbreak of avian influenza (AI/bird flu) in Scotland, with Shetland the area most heavily affected, according to the RSPB. With warmer weather and more tourists out on the Northumberland Coast, several authorities are warning the public not to touch any birds which are visibly sick or dead, despite the low risk of bird flu transmission to humans ( according to UKCDR figures, 600 cases of AI in humans have shown a mortality rate of 60% ).
