WELLINGTON COUNTY – The province’s first commercial avian influenza case this year was identified at a poultry operation in northern Wellington County.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the infection on Oct. 8.
A control zone bordering Mount Forest, aimed at preventing spread of the virus, requires permits to transport poultry and poultry products in and out of the zone.
It spans the edge of Mount Forest in the north to past Bethel Creek in the south. It runs west to east from Wellington Road 6 to Concession Road 6 North.
Avian influenza affects the respiratory tracts of many types of birds, both domesticated and wild.
It can also be passed from birds to humans through breathing virus droplets in the air or dust, or by touching contaminated surfaces with infected bird mucus, saliva or feces and then touching the eyes, mouth or nose.
Most at risk of infection are farmers, their family members and those working around birds.
Bird flu does not present a food safety risk when meat is handled and cooked properly.
Avian influenza has made national headlines this year with an ongoing legal standoff and arrests at a B.C. ostrich farm where some 300 birds were ordered by the CFIA to be culled after the virus was confirmed there.
The farm’s owners have fought the government culling order all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada, which has yet to decide whether it will adjudicate the dispute.
A CFIA spokesperson told the Advertiser around 6,000 turkeys from the Wellington County operation have been culled because of the virus.
Culling orders, the CFIA says on its website, are “often necessary to keep humans and other animals safe, and to keep export markets open.”
A total of 62 confirmed premises in Ontario have experienced the virus since March 2022, of which five have been in Wellington County.
The last infection in the county was confirmed in a backyard flock of chickens, geese, turkey, peacocks and ducks in February.
According to CFIA data, more than 1.24 millions birds in Ontario, and a total of 14.82 million birds across the country, have been culled or died because of the virus as of October.
Mount Forest park reopened
Wellington North reopened Murphy’s Park in Mount Forest on Oct. 20.
Township CAO Brooke Lambert stated in an email the park was closed “as a precaution” on Oct. 17 following the reported discovery by a resident of several dead Canadian geese floating on the Saugeen River behind the Murphy Street park.
The sighting and status of the birds has not been confirmed.
Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health was notified and later recommended reopening the park.
Lambert stated in an email the “public health risk related to the avian influenza is very low.”
The township advises people not to come in contact with dead or sick birds and to keep pets and children away.
Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative wildlife pathologist Brian Stevens told the Advertiser deceased Canadian geese located in Wellington County have recently tested positive for avian influenza.
According to Stevens a dead goose located in Mount Forest on Oct. 3, unrelated to the most recent report, tested positive. The cooperative, which tracks wildlife health and coordinates lab testing, won’t be collecting geese recently reported on the river, Stevens said.
The organization doesn’t have the resources and capacity to run tests on each animal reported, though Stevens said avian flu “fits as the likely cause of death.”
Stevens said there have been between 12 and 24 confirmed positives in dead geese scattered around southwestern Ontario.
“That’s pretty typical for the fall migration period,” he said, adding “maybe a few more than we’ve seen in the past couple of years.”
Deceased Canadian geese testing positive for avian influenza were recently found in the West Perth Wetlands, around 80km or a one-hour drive southwest from Mount Forest.
West Perth closed its Mitchell-area park as a precaution before reopening it a week later.
