To date, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has recorded 532,000 birds that have died or had to be culled due to exposure to the disease on 23 poultry farms in Quebec. Eleven outbreaks were still listed as “ongoing” as of Tuesday. Farms in British Columbia and Alberta have been even harder hit, suffering 2.9 million and 1.2 million deaths, respectively.
Although less common in wild birds, the disease does affect certain species, including those who eat infected geese, like gulls, raptors, turkey vultures and hawks, said veterinarian Stéphane Lair, regional director for the Quebec branch of the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, which is helping to monitor the crisis. Marine birds living in cramped colonies were also affected.
But Lair cautions that “influenza viruses are known to evolve, so there’s nothing telling us that this flu is not going to change at one point. You don’t want to be in contact with dead or sick birds.”