\n\t\t\t\t\t\tThe city of Orlando is taking a closer look at the safety of its iconic swans following a winter avian flu outbreak that killed 29 birds.City officials said 29 mute swans died during the most recent outbreak, including 25 that belonged to the city. The last avian flu-related swan death was reported Jan. 21, nearly a month ago.Commissioner Mayra Uribe said the outbreak raised concerns about how the swans are being cared for.\u201cIt was really sad to see a lot of illness, but then it put into question, how safe were the swans being treated?\u201d Uribe said. She added that veterinary oversight needs to be more consistent and involved.The city is evaluating several measures, including changes to the bird-feeding process, updates to the swan care plan, and limited swan access to certain areas of the water and land as officials assess their needs. Water quality, seawall height, and more thorough veterinary examinations are also under review.For now, feeder machines and coin dispensers previously used by visitors to feed the birds have been removed. Signs posted around the park urge the public to avoid interacting with wildlife.Park visitors said the losses have been difficult to see.\u201cI\u2019m concerned because this is important, anywhere, especially in the city,\u201d said Luis Kidder, who frequents the park.Madison Randolph, who enjoys feeding the swans, said the outbreak was heartbreaking. \u201cIt made me sad because I want to be a veterinarian and I love animals,\u201d she said.Sujaya Lobo, who works in public health, said she would like to see a more structured feeding and support program for the birds.\u201cMaybe they can come up with a program that actually supports their feeding routines, what they need and what they don\u2019t need,\u201d Lobo said.City officials said 44 swans remain in the flock, and they are hopeful the flu will run its course soon. Orlando is working with other agencies to ensure conditions remain safe for both the birds and the public.\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\tORLANDO, Fla. \u2014 \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The city of Orlando is taking a closer look at the safety of its iconic swans following a winter avian flu outbreak that killed 29 birds.<\/p>\n
City officials said 29 mute swans died during the most recent outbreak, including 25 that belonged to the city. The last avian flu-related swan death was reported Jan. 21, nearly a month ago.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Mayra Uribe said the outbreak raised concerns about how the swans are being cared for.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was really sad to see a lot of illness, but then it put into question, how safe were the swans being treated?\u201d Uribe said. <\/p>\n
She added that veterinary oversight needs to be more consistent and involved.<\/p>\n
The city is evaluating several measures, including changes to the bird-feeding process, updates to the swan care plan, and limited swan access to certain areas of the water and land as officials assess their needs. Water quality, seawall height, and more thorough veterinary examinations are also under review.<\/p>\n
For now, feeder machines and coin dispensers previously used by visitors to feed the birds have been removed. Signs posted around the park urge the public to avoid interacting with wildlife.<\/p>\n
Park visitors said the losses have been difficult to see.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m concerned because this is important, anywhere, especially in the city,\u201d said Luis Kidder, who frequents the park.<\/p>\n
Madison Randolph, who enjoys feeding the swans, said the outbreak was heartbreaking. \u201cIt made me sad because I want to be a veterinarian and I love animals,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Sujaya Lobo, who works in public health, said she would like to see a more structured feeding and support program for the birds.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe they can come up with a program that actually supports their feeding routines, what they need and what they don\u2019t need,\u201d Lobo said.<\/p>\n
City officials said 44 swans remain in the flock, and they are hopeful the flu will run its course soon. Orlando is working with other agencies to ensure conditions remain safe for both the birds and the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The city of Orlando is taking a closer look at the safety of its iconic swans following a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158003,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[52229,657,187,75764,65571,1610,2468,139,141,140,3032,4208,75761,75763,75762,75760,4103],"class_list":{"0":"post-158002","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-orlando","8":"tag-avian-flu-outbreak","9":"tag-bird","10":"tag-city","11":"tag-coin-dispenser","12":"tag-iconic-swan","13":"tag-lake-eola","14":"tag-land","15":"tag-orlando","16":"tag-orlando-headlines","17":"tag-orlando-news","18":"tag-park","19":"tag-public","20":"tag-recent-outbreak","21":"tag-sujaya-lobo","22":"tag-support-program","23":"tag-swan-safety","24":"tag-water"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158002"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158002\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}