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

But an Indiana Department of Natural Resources specialist says that case numbers should drop as temperatures warm.

The bird flu is taking out wildlife in some parts of Indiana. Birds known as the sandhill cranes are turning up dead on frozen lakes in LaPorte County, Indiana. Sign up for our Newsletters Around 600 cranes have died in Jackson County,

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