Salt recognized as the cause of mass duck deaths in Vitebsk

Salt killed ducks on the Vitba River in Vitebsk. Veterinarians have reached these conclusions, the head of the Vitebsk City Veterinary Laboratory, Leonid Rachkovsky, told a BELTA correspondent.

"No signs of infectious or viral disease were found. An excess of sodium chloride was detected in the bodies of the birds that were sent for examination," the expert said. According to him, sodium chloride, commonly known as table salt, could have entered the birds' bodies through feeding: chips, salted nuts, bread. According to ecologists, no elevated levels of sodium chloride were found in the water where the ducks were swimming.

About fifty dead birds were found in the mouth of the Vitba River and under the ice over several days. Ecologists suggested that improper feeding could have caused the mass death. Now, signs with rules for feeding wild waterfowl have been installed in places where ducks congregate.