Dog in Ontario contracts avian flu from wild goose, dies in rare case | 24CA News
A canine in Oshawa, Ont., contracted the avian flu and has died, in keeping with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).
The canine was contaminated with avian flu, often known as H5N1 or the hen flu, after chewing on a wild goose, in keeping with the company, and died after creating “clinical signs.”
The case was confirmed on April 1 and the necropsy, which confirmed the respiratory system was concerned within the dying, was accomplished on April 3.
“Further testing is underway,” CFIA stated in an announcement launched Tuesday. “It is the only case of its kind in Canada.”
The company stated the variety of documented H5N1 circumstances in non-avian species is low, regardless of massive avian outbreaks throughout the globe in the previous few years.
“Based on the current evidence in Canada, the risk to the general public remains low and current scientific evidence suggests that the risk of a human contracting avian influenza from a domestic pet is minor,” the company stated.
The solely human case ever recorded in Canada was in 2014, when a Canadian died from avian influenza after coming back from a visit abroad. Human circumstances are uncommon and “almost always acquired through direct contact with infected birds or exposure to heavily contaminated environments.”
“To date, there has been no evidence of sustained person-to-person spread.”
However, Shayan Sharif, a professor and affiliate dean with the Ontario Veterinary College on the University of Guelph, informed Global News beforehand that the virus is “gathering momentum” and changing into extra of a human menace.
“Various pieces of the puzzle are coming together for this virus to become transmissible among humans,” he stated. “And this particular virus has the potential to become a pandemic virus, and if it does, then we have to be absolutely ready because the fatality rate of this virus could be far greater than what we saw for COVID-19.”
The CFIA recommends taking precautions with pets, together with not feeding them uncooked meat from recreation birds or poultry, and never permitting pets to devour or play with useless wild birds discovered exterior.
The virus has been detected in different mammals, together with foxes in Ontario, Quebec and B.C., in addition to seals, dolphins and black bears in Quebec, and wild mink, raccoons, porpoises and skunks from areas throughout Canada.
Cases of hen flu have been confirmed in Mississauga, Ont., earlier on Tuesday.
— with recordsdata from Global News’ Katie Dangerfield
© 2023 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
