[caption id="attachment_69110" align="aligncenter" width="570"] Moscow zombie pigeons problem[/caption]Has Moscow been Ravaged by Zombie Pigeons?

Pigeons are a nuisance in a lot of big cities. They are messy birds that carry and spread disease. If regular pigeons are annoying, zombie pigeons are the stuff nightmares are made of. That seems to be the problem in Moscow though. Zombie pigeons have invaded and they have citizens confused.

These pigeons seem like the walking dead. They have little to no fear of humans and wonder around confused, moving around like zombies with no sense of direction. They have completely stopped acting like birds. Many have reported birds falling from the sky or falling over. Some of these birds just sit with their beaks to the pavement. Is this the bird apocalypse or is something else to blame.

Scientists believe that the culprits causing this phenomenon are a mixture of intestinal parasites and other parasites. They have seen many other pigeons pass away over the years from these health problems and it seems the problem may be becoming more widespread.

According to RT.com, initial reports had suggested the birds' abnormal behaviour was caused by Newcastle disease - a virus which can spread to humans.

"Before death, they start to resemble zombies: they lose their orientation and fly without a sense of direction, then fall, already lacking the strength to get up," wrote Konstantin Ranks, a science columnist at the website Slon.ru.

But Russia's chief sanitary official Gennady Onishchenko has since announced the birds are actually suffering from salmonella poisoning.

He announced the news at a press conference on Friday, and ensured his contempt for the animals, which are understood to have died extremely painful deaths, was made clear.

He said: "In the hands of Picasso a pigeon became the embodiment of peace.

"But in fact, in a sanitary sense, it is the most untidy and one of the most stupid birds," the Moscow Times reported.

Many birds are dying from this horrible condition but there is good news. None of these conditions are contagious to humans and the birds pose no threat to humans in any way.

Source
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/moscow-panicked-by-zombie-pigeons-29517281.html