Bird Flu and Dogs: How to Protect Pets from Deadly Virus Rise – National

After Dogs in Ontario Recently Contracted Avian influenza The risk of mammalian infection remains low, but experts say pet owners should be more vigilant.

The infectious strain, called H5N1, also known as avian influenza, is a highly pathogenic form of avian influenza virus A and circulates most readily among birds. Although it rarely infects mammals, it is increasing in numbers across Canada.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) announced Tuesday that a dog in Oshawa, Ontario, contracted bird flu after biting a wild goose and then showed “clinical signs”. The case was confirmed on April 1, and an autopsy was completed on April 3 indicating respiratory involvement in the death.

The CFIA says the risk of humans and pets contracting the virus remains low, but Scott Wease, a veterinary physician and professor at the University of Guelph Ontario College of Veterinary Medicine, said the risk is not zero and pets owners said they still need to be careful.

“This dog could have easily been missed, because if he hadn’t noticed the bird encounter, he wouldn’t have been tested at all,” he said. “Is this the only dog ​​in Canada that has been infected, or the only dog ​​that we have diagnosed? Hard to say.”

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Overall, house pets rarely catch avian flu, but it’s when there’s a lot of background noise that it becomes a problem, he explained.

“Even if it’s a one-in-a-million chance, if you catch millions of birds, that one-in-a-million chance starts to become more common.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about the ongoing circulation among poultry. At a WHO press conference on Thursday, infectious disease epidemiologist Dr Maria van Kerhove said transmission from poultry to mammals was “always a concern”.

“As a pathogen with that zoonotic risk, that contagion risk, the concern is whether there are aspects of its amplification,” she said. “This is something that the organization takes very seriously as a potential epidemic and pandemic pathogen.”

According to Levon Abrahamian, a virologist at the University of Montreal, transmission between mammals usually occurs when animals eat or bite birds.

“These cases are very rare and occur when there is very direct contact with a large number of viral particles,” he said. It can occur if you are in close contact with the virus.”

This is why bird flu was transferred to “opportunistic carnivores” such as foxes, raccoons, skunks, wild cats and ferrets, Abrahamian said.

For example, last month 8 skunks found dead The Vancouver area tested positive for H5N1 bird flu. B.C. health officials said the skunk may have contracted the virus by eating infected wild birds.

In terms of livestock being infected, Abrahamians believe that hunting dogs are most at risk.

duck hunting in canada usually in autumnbut the virus could still be present in September and October as bird flu continues to spread across the country.

“For domestic dogs, it is very rare for a dog to become infected. But the dogs at higher risk are hunting dogs,” warned Abrahamian. “Due to the outbreak of highly pathogenic influenza among wild birds, we strongly advise hunters to take precautions.

“The dead birds are likely infected with the virus, so they need to monitor the dogs because we don’t know what caused the deaths.”

Bird flu affects all kinds of birds, including ducks, swans, and geese. It especially affects those that tend to stay in herds or cluster together. The virus is transmitted from bird to bird through secretions, faeces, contaminated feed, water and equipment. According to the Canadian Center for Occupational Safety and Health.

Because it can be fatal, scavenger animals such as skunks (or dogs) can also catch the virus if they eat infected birds.

“Geese tend to stand their ground, so you don’t want your dog roaming areas where you’ll have close encounters with geese, for example,” says Weas. “If your dog barks at you, the goose will bark back. And that’s the kind of close contact we want to prevent.”

If you have a park that dog owners enjoy but it’s infested with geese at this time of year, Weas said, perhaps bring pets because the goal is to “reduce the bridges between wildlife and domestic animals.” It’s not the best place to go.

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Bird flu virus spreads to mammals

Weese said she has two dogs of her own and lives in rural Ontario, so there are ducks and geese everywhere.

“I’m not overly restrictive with my dogs, but I don’t let them chase geese in the pond. But in areas where I know birds aren’t often seen, I’m not going to keep them completely on a leash.”

In terms of feeding your pet raw meat, Weas said there shouldn’t be any risk of bird flu, even if your dog is eating raw meat, just like buying poultry at the grocery store.

“There’s no flu risk there,” he explained. “Poultry are really well monitored. If they get infected, they don’t enter the food chain.”

However, dog owners warned against hunting their own birds to feed their dogs or keeping poultry in the backyard. Because these are sources of “large amplification” of the virus.

With bird flu cases steadily rising in Canada, Weis said bird feeders could pose a risk, especially “for the birds themselves, as they are mingling feeding grounds.” I was.

“You’re collecting birds that might otherwise be inaccessible. You’re also adding to the risk of bird secretions and bird droppings in feeders. If so, it could be a place to amplify the virus,” he said.

There is also the danger that bird feeders will bring in more animals that are closer to the human or pet population.

He recommends keeping cats indoors when possible, but admits that it can be difficult in some situations.

“It’s probably not good to have a feeder, especially if you have an outdoor cat, because that cat is more likely to catch birds, and your cat is more likely to catch sick birds,” says Weas. Added.

If you want to maintain your feeders and bird baths this spring and summer, Abrahamian recommends washing them frequently with a vinegar and soap mixture to maintain a clean environment.

“We don’t want bird feeders and baths to be a source of infection for this virus, so if you clean them regularly, they should be fine,” he said.

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BC SPCA calls for removal of bird feeders for now

In December 2022, the British Columbia Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (BC SPCA) urged residents to remove bird feeders and warned them of the presence of birds such as great horned owls, bald eagles, great blue herons, ducks and geese. bottom. Crows — at risk of viruses.

The BC SPCA called on people to remove seed and suet bird feeders to discourage the possibility of birds gathering and spreading disease.

These feeders create “unnatural flocks” of birds that can pass the virus on to each other or from the droppings of other birds on the ground beneath the feeders as they search for fallen seeds, he said. , said the organization.

— Using files from Simon Little of Global News