Hundreds of ducks have been found dead near the ETAR do Salgados waste water treatment plant near Faro.
Some birds have been collected by the wildlife animal recovery centre Rias and technicians suspect that the cause is an infection caused by botulism The coordinator of Rias, Fábia Azevedo, said: “Since August 28 we have taken in 125 ducks. Some have paralysed limbs and some just arrive dead or die within the first hours of being in the centre.
“However, around 50 per cent of the birds we have treated have recovered. Some of the dead ducks have already been tested but it is not yet known what might be causing their deaths”, said Fábia Azevedo.
“The symptoms may be related to the botulinum toxin that is produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and is known to be highly neurotoxic. We can’t confirm it yet because we are still doing laboratory analysis.”
