Jul 15, 2008 7:53 pm US/Eastern
Key's Doves Targeted By Deadly Virus
TAVERNIER (CBS4) ―
Residents of the Florida Keys are in the midst of an epidemic that's killing doves throughout the island chain; it's been going on for weeks and there is no sign of it slowing down.
Workers at the Wild Bird Rehabilitation Center in Tavernier say they have been swamped with people bringing them sick doves.
As Turkey Vultures circled overhead, 20 year Key's resident Richard Hart told CBS4's Jorge Estevez birds are everywhere in the Keys and recently doves have been dying at an alarming rate. Hart said last week he found a dead bird when he went out to his boat.
"I thought it had hit an antenna and crashed and killed itself, but evidently it's part of this problem," said Hart.
At the rehabilitation center, Bruce Horn has been tending to sick birds for almost twenty years. He says he noticed an increase in the number of birds dying a few weeks ago. The Paramyxovirus appears to be affecting a species of bird known as the Eurasion Collared-Dove.
"There are a bunch of birds that eat at a particular feeder they contaminate that area and then pass it around," said Hart.
Hart said so far the virus doesn't appear to be affecting any species of dove, and more than likely won't affect dogs, cats or humans.
"Nobody else seems to get it unless it's those birds in the species," said Hart.
Hart says wildlife officials are trying to get a handle on the virus before it spreads beyond the Keys. They're asking everyone in the Keys to stop putting food in bird feeders for at least the next two weeks.
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