News / Business
Bird Deaths Shut Down Austin, Texas.
The discovery of more than 50 dead birds in the downtown area of Austin, Texas shut down businesses early Monday morning. Emergency workers wearing hazardous-material suits collected the dead carcasses of pigeons, sparrows and grackles along the streets of a 10-block area and declared the main route through downtown off limits while testing was being done.
Preliminary tests have indicated that there were no dangerous chemicals in the air. Medical director for Austin and Travis County Health and Human Services Adolfo Valadez said “We do not feel there is a threat to the public health.”
Police shut down a 10-block stretch of Congress Avenue that affected an area near the Capitol and included a section of the Colorado River known as Town Lake.
Officials have said they do not believe that bird flu is a culprit in the deaths.
