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FRANKLIN COUNTY, Va. (WDBJ) – More than a dozen vultures were found dead in Rocky Mount this week. We still don’t know what happened to those birds, whose bodies were found in a creek.
Now the Department of Wildlife Resources and other state agencies are investigating.
About 15 dead black vultures were discovered early Tuesday afternoon.
Multiple agencies were called to the scene to investigate the cause of death and test for avian flu.
“The PD was made aware when a pedestrian saw some dead vultures, and so they initiated calls to other departments, including DWR; that’s what started the investigation,” said Rocky Mount Mayor Holland Perdue.
Perdue said the vultures were found near a wooded lot on the corner of Dent Street and Franklin Street.
He said the Town’s water system was not impacted because the Water Treatment Plant does not draw water from the shallow creek.
“We’re waiting on the reports to come back on, on the cause of death, and once we know that we’ll know more, and we’ll update the community with that,” added Perdue.
The Department of Wildlife Resources said there have been recent cases of bird flu in black vultures, so they are treating this as a suspected case.
The Department is sending off test samples to the University of Georgia and will give the results to the Town of Rocky Mount as soon as they get back.
If there is a positive case, the test samples will then get sent to the National Veterinary Services Laboratories to confirm the results.
“We’re asking people to stay away from that area for the time being. And if it is avian flu, we’ll let the public know and let them know what to be cautious of,” closed Perdue.
Officials with the Department of Wildlife said they expect to see preliminary test results by the end of next week.
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