A sudden increase in dead Canadian geese reported along parts of Kingston’s waterfront is unpleasant but not unusual and poses little risk to the general public, according to the medical director at Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre.
On Friday the city asked people to report sightings of sick and dead birds after roughly 30 deceased Canadian geese were found at Lake Ontario Park and Elevator Bay, along Front Road, in recent days.
Leah Birmingham, medical director at Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre in Napanee, says the deaths are more than likely attributable to avian influenza, a virus she says is not uncommon among water fowl that spend time in groups, like geese.
She says outbreaks have been happening across the country for the last several years, but for the most part, Kingston has yet to be affected.
“The incidents kind of go up at different time periods,” Birmingham explained. “I’m assuming having the mild winter we’re having, is just made it a more ideal situation for birds to stick around in smaller groups, and that’s why we’re seeing it at this time.”
Wild aquatic species, like geese and ducks are most at risk of getting the virus, but Birmingham says it can also spread among birds of prey that eat a sick bird, and has been seen in some terrestrial mammals, like foxes. It can also spread to domestic animals like chickens and turkeys, but Birmingham says it’s very rare to see the virus cross over to humans.
Those most at risk are people who spend a lot of time close to sick birds, like poultry farmers or medical workers like Birmingham.
“You have to be exposed often, and in high-viral loads, so a person walking through Ontario Park isn’t likely going to get it,” she said. “But a person farming a flock of birds that had the virus, whose handling and dealing with them day in and day out, is at more of a risk.”
The city is warning not to touch sick, injured or dead wild birds. If handling wild birds or other wildlife is unavoidable, the city advises to wear gloves or a double plastic bag over your hands and avoid blood, body fluids and feces.
Hands should be washed thoroughly with soap and warm water after handling a sick or dead bird, the city said.
The city is also advising to protect pets by keeping cats indoors and dogs on a leash.
Officials say monitoring of Lake Ontario Park and Elevator Bay is ongoing and Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre is helping with clean up.
In the meantime anyone who sees a distressed or dead bird is asked to report it to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative at 1-866-673-4781 or online at the organization’s website.
Birds in distress can also be reported to Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre at (613) 354-0264.
Birmingham says she the outbreak will likely begin to the subside in the spring when geese break off into couples to mate.
“We don’t want anybody in Kingston freaking out that all birds in the Kingston area are going to die,” she said. “There’s probably going to be flocks of Canada geese that are going to suffer and that’s sad, but that is the way diseases work through wild populations.”
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