Avoid contact with sick or dead birds, health officials urge, amid concerns about bird flu

Carolyn Law didn't think much of it when a snow goose landed in her backyard in Richmond, B.C., on Halloween.

But hours later it had barely moved. Then he started bobbing his head repeatedly. About eight hours after she first saw the bird, it rolled over, convulsed and died.

“It was quite sad to see, quite frightening actually,” Law said.

Law said she called a wildlife rescue group and the symptoms seemed to indicate bird flu rather than physical injury, but without testing this could not be confirmed.

Encounters like Law's are coming under renewed scrutiny after a B.C. teen tested positive for bird flu in Canada's first suspected case of human infection. The patient is in critical condition.

Experts and health authorities say that while the risk of human infection with the H5N1 strain of bird flu remains low, people should avoid contact with sick or dead birds.

“People who work with animals or in animal-contaminated environments should take precautions, including using other personal protective measures, to reduce the risk of contracting or spreading infectious respiratory diseases,” Health Canada said in a statement.

Concerns about bird flu have increased in recent years, with the virus leading to the culling of millions of poultry in North America.

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Health Canada said in a statement that current evidence domestically shows that “the risk to the general public remains low.”

The agency said rare human infections only occur when a person interacts closely with an infected bird, and that there is no evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus. The website says there is no risk of infection from eating thoroughly cooked poultry, eggs or meat.

Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said during a press conference on Tuesday that the source of the infection was not clear.

Henry said the only other case in Canada was recorded in Alberta in 2014, in a person who likely contracted the virus while traveling through China.

But Henry recognized the risk posed by wild birds.

'One of the important things we need to do now is to recognize that this virus is circulating mainly among wild animals, geese and ducks: [is] make sure that if you come into contact with sick birds or dead birds, you do not touch them directly [and] Keep pets away from them,” she said, noting that in Ontario a dog became infected after biting a dead bird.

Henry said people can become infected by “inhaling the virus in aerosols, in droplets that land in the eyes, in the back of the throat, nose or deep in the lungs.”

Henry said it is highly likely that the BC teen's infection occurred due to exposure to a sick animal or something in the environment, but it is a “real possibility” that the source may never be identified.

Her office said Tuesday that people should report dead or sick poultry or livestock to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's animal health bureau and that encounters involving wild birds should be reported to the BC Wild Bird Mortality Line.

It said anyone exposed to sick or dead birds, or who had been in contact with farms where bird flu was confirmed, should watch for flu-like symptoms.

“If you develop symptoms within 10 days of exposure to sick or dead animals, tell your healthcare provider that you have been in contact with sick animals and that you are concerned about bird flu,” the report said. “This allows them to give you appropriate advice about testing and treatment. Stay home and away from others while you have symptoms.”

Call the authorities, avoid close contact

Brian Ward, an infectious disease microbiologist at McGill University, said he could not speculate whether the goose in Law's backyard had the flu, but “it is possible that if an increasing number of ducks and geese are found dead, there is a good chance is that they will.” are infected with highly pathogenic bird flu.”

Ward said it was concerning that authorities were unsure how the sick BC teen contracted H5N1, while Henry said the teen had no known contacts with poultry farms.

But Ward said human infection in Canada was “almost inevitable” given the spread of the disease in recent years in North America and Europe. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control says there have been 46 human cases of bird flu in the U.S., although there has been no evidence of human-to-human spread.

Ward advises people who come across a dead bird to call authorities instead of disposing of the bird themselves.

“But if it is on your property and you want to throw it away, then it is certainly very wise to wear a mask and gloves, put it in a plastic bag as soon as possible and do everything you can to avoid aerosols . ” he said.