Hastings Prince Edward Public Health looks out animal owners about the capacity for their animals to contract bird influenza after communicating with wild birds.
This follows the recent death of a dog in Oshawa, Ont., after it had actually been chewing on a wild goose. A necropsy report said the dog had actually shown timeless signs of bird influenza infection.
Public health says cases of bird influenza in animals are unusual however can occur when animals can be found in contact with wild birds.
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Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre in Napanee, Ont., says they haven’t seen any cases of bird influenza come through their center up until now.
“We’ve had several cases that have similar symptoms,” says Leah Birmingham, medical director at Sandy Pines. “We’ve suspected it, but nothing that’s tested positive at this point.”
Public health says although bird influenza is hardly ever infected individuals, animal owners need to still watch out for the illness.
“It is important to reduce the chance of transmission of this virus and protect our pets and domestic livestock by ensuring that they have no contact with wild birds or other potentially infected animals,” says Dr. Ethan Toumishey, medical officer of health at Hastings Prince Edward Public Health.
Birmingham says there are some indications for individuals to be knowledgeable about that a wild bird might be struggling with bird influenza.
“Sometimes it looks like they’re drunk, they can’t walk properly,” she says. “They’re having difficulty moving around. They probably can’t fly away when a predator approaches them, which is how somebody’s dog is going to get them in the first place.”
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Anyone who does discover a wild bird that is showing these indications need to call their town and Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative so that an organization like Sandy Pines can concern look after the bird effectively.
“If you just leave them out there to die, they’re just contaminating the area more,” says Birmingham.
“Whereas if they’re brought here when they’re dying and we help them along and then we can properly dispose of them, so they’re not in the in the general public potentially causing a hazard.”
According to public health, there has actually never ever been a human case of bird influenza in Canada. Still, they encourage animal owners to be on alert when taking their animals outside.
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