More than 1,500 iconic sandhill cranes have been killed by bird flu in Indiana, officials say, the latest development in the spread of the highly infectious respiratory illness. Volunteers in masks and gloves have been collecting the 15-pound birds from shorelines,

There is no cure for the disease, which has a high mortality rate among birds but remains a low risk to people, according to the CDC

Mass culling is expensive, but alternatives, like vaccinating chickens or luring wild birds away from domestic flocks, would also impose logistical and environmental costs. And they may be more expensive,