Marshall Islands: Mystery Surrounds Mass Deaths of Chickens and Ducks, Perplexing Health and Environment Officials
“The mass death of chickens and ducks on a small island next to the US Army’s missile testing range in the Marshall Islands is perplexing health and environment officials.
The sudden and unexplained deaths of nearly 100 chickens on Enibooj Island — which has a population of less than 200 people living a largely subsistence lifestyle — sparked an investigation earlier this week by Ministry of Health and Marshall Islands Environmental Protection Authority [EPA] officials.
‘More than 85 chickens and ducks were found dead and buried on the island of Enibooj from 1 Jul to 18 Jul 2011,’ reported Ebeye Hospital’s Dr Tom Jack and EPA’s Ebeye chief environmental specialist Odrikawa Jatios on Wednesday [20 Jul 2011] after touring the island that US cartographers refer to as Carlson. Samples of the dead bird carcasses were taken for laboratory testing.
Kwajalein [Atoll] senator Tony deBrum sought an investigation of the apparent outbreak of disease among fowls on the island late last week, saying ‘dead chickens in a small community should be a matter of emergency health concerns.’
The island is located about 3 miles away from the headquarters island of the Reagan Test Site, a major missile testing facility operated by the US Army.” Read more.




I appreciate your coverage on this important topic. I met with Senator deBrum shortly after this incident while interviewing him for my coverage of low-lying island issues on http://www.drowningislands.com, and I was saddened to learn about this incident. Please continue writing about important environmental issues like this- they need exposure! -Brook at http://www.drowningislands.com
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