OTTAWA – A dog in Oshawa has tested positive for avian influenza, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed on April 4.
The CFIA’s National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease confirmed on April 1 that a domesticated canine had tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza.
According to a CFIA press release about the finding – the only of its kind in Canada – it’s believed the dog was infected by chewing on a wild goose. The dog later died after developing symptoms associated with the bird-borne virus.
An autopsy was completed on the animal on April 3, according the CFIA, and revealed “respiratory system involvement.”
The CFIA states the number of documented cases of avian influenza in non-avian species, such as cats and dogs is low, and claims the risk to the general public is also low.
Several domestic cats, mountain lions and a fox have recently died in the U.S. after becoming infected with bird flu, according to media reports there.
Around this time last year, several positive cases of avian influenza were discovered in Wellington County poultry flocks.
Though the virus does not present a food safety risk, the CFIA pays particular attention to highly pathogenic subtypes of the bird flu because the strains mutate from low to high pathogenicity after infecting domestic birds, and cause high mortality.
High-path subtypes, such as H5N1 and H7N9, are also most responsible for causing severe illness and death in people, with over half of human infections resulting in death, according to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CFIA states avian influenza cases among humans are “rare” and “almost always acquired through direct contact with infected birds or exposure to heavily contaminated environments.”
The risk of humans contracting the virus from domestic pets is also minor, according the CFIA.
Even when humans become infected, human-to-human transmission is extremely rare, with most cases occurring in family members following unprotected and prolonged exposure to an infected person who is also symptomatic.
In Canada, there has been a single known case of bird flu detected in a human. In 2014, an Albertan died after contracting H5N1, following travel to China.
“No domestically-acquired human cases of avian influenza have been reported in Canada,” states the CFIA.
Despite the apparent lack of alarm, the government cautions people to protect pets and themselves.
Pet owners should not feed pets raw game bird or poultry meat, and not allow pets to eat or play with birds,
“The CFIA has a dedicated response team of experts that has been activated to respond to the AI outbreaks and will coordinate actions with federal, provincial and territorial partners and industry,” the release notes.
