Tag: disease

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Cottage Life

Alberta grapples with a virus killing both wild and domesticated rabbits

Photo by Pixabay/Susanne Jutzeler, Schweiz

Alberta is on the lookout for dead rabbits. The province has witnessed several cases of a deadly strain of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus known as RHDV2.

The virus has killed numerous rabbits over the last year, including five pet rabbits in Taber in May 2021, three young bunnies from a group of feral domestic rabbits—meaning they were either pets released into the wild or the offspring of pets—in northwest Edmonton in September 2021, and three colonies of feral domestic rabbits in Calgary between late August and early September 2022.

Previously, RHDV was only found in Alberta’s feral domestic rabbits, but among the most recent deaths was a wild mountain cottontail rabbit. The difference between wild and feral rabbits is that wild rabbits are native to the environment while feral rabbits come from stock once domesticated or imported from other countries. Wild rabbits were thought to be immune to RHDV, but the RHDV2 strain is infecting wild populations. This was the first wild rabbit found dead from the virus in the province, said Alberta’s Ministry of Environment and Parks in a report. The ministry wants to prevent the virus from becoming embedded in Alberta’s wild rabbit populations.

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Researchers first diagnosed RHDV in China in 1984. Since then, the virus has spread through Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Cuba, and some parts of Asia and Africa, the ministry said in an email.

In 2010, researchers diagnosed RHDV2, a new strain, among the European rabbit species in France. RHDV2 has since appeared in North America. Feral domestic populations of European rabbits were killed by the virus in Quebec in 2016, British Columbia in 2018, and Washington State in 2019.

RHDV2 has a mortality rate of 70 to 100 per cent. Once a rabbit is exposed, it can become sick within one to five days, and the virus will quickly tear through the rest of its colony. According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the virus is spread between rabbits through direct contact with infected saliva, runny nose and eyes, urine, manure, blood, and infected fur or carcasses.

Common symptoms include fever, loss of appetite, shortness of breath, groaning, blood spots in the eyes, frothy and bloody nose, and neurological symptoms, such as difficulty walking, seizures, or paralysis.

Beyond the wild mountain cottontail found dead in September, experts haven’t found the virus in any other wild rabbits in Alberta. But this doesn’t mean it won’t spread. Since the spring of 2020, the southwestern U.S. and northern Mexico have experienced multiple outbreaks among their wild rabbit populations.

Arizona was the first state in the U.S. where the virus transferred from feral domestic rabbits to wild rabbits. In April 2020, a wild black-tailed jackrabbit and several wild cottontails were found dead from the virus.

“The virus escaped from captive and pet rabbits into adjacent feral populations of domestic rabbits as well as native wild rabbits and hares,” the ministry said. “The social nature and natural high density in populations of rabbits and hares facilitates viral transmission. All forms of rabbit haemorrhagic disease are highly contagious, with high mortality rates in susceptible species and populations.”

Environment and Parks’ Wildlife Disease Unit is monitoring wild hares, jackrabbits, and cottontail rabbits in the vicinity of outbreaks for signs of the virus. It’s also asked any members of the public to report sightings of groups of dead rabbits.

The ministry does stress that outside of rabbits and hares, RHDV2 is not contagious among humans, pets, livestock, or other animal species. But humans are helping to transmit the disease. By purchasing pet rabbits from questionable sources, not taking proper hygienic care of the rabbits and their enclosure, and abandoning pet rabbits in the wild, the virus can spread.

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To prevent further infections, the ministry suggests washing your hands, clothes, cages, and equipment between contacts with rabbits from different sources, only taking in rabbits from reputable sources, quarantining new rabbits away from existing ones for 30 days, using separate equipment for new or sick rabbits, and preventing all contact with wild rabbits, hares, and jackrabbits.

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Cottage Life

Canada-wide avian flu outbreaks cause wildlife centres to turn away some bird species

Photo by Wirestock Creators/Shutterstock

Avian influenza outbreaks are occurring across the country at an unprecedented scale, says the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). Martin Appelt, the senior director of the agency says this the largest flare-up of avian flu Canada has ever experienced. “We are not used to seeing avian influenza outbreaks exploding Canada-wide like this,” says Appelt, noting that nearly every province in the country has identified cases of the disease.

The Wildlife Haven Rehabilitation Centre in Winnipeg, Man. is one of many animal organizations that have acted to limit the spread of avian influenza. The haven has stopped accepting two species of bird, Canada geese and the blue-winged teal, which they say they’ve seen a high number of cases in. 

“Based on what was coming into the center and also the calls that we were getting in terms of symptomatic animals, we made the decision to protect the animals that we have in care,” says Zoe Nakata, a spokesperson for the centre. Nakata suggests people call animal control agencies or local wildlife rehabilitation centres if they witness anything unusual—like mass die-offs—out in the wild. 

While Canada has dealt with outbreaks of avian flu in the past, those outbreaks were contained to specific geographical regions, says Appelt. By contrast, this current explosion is being experienced across the country and globe. 

Large outbreaks of avian influenza are typically tied to the changing of seasons as migratory birds move across the globe. While Canada saw large increases in cases in the spring and fall, the current outbreak has been ongoing since Oct. 2021. “Normally—at least in living memory—we have not had outbreaks going through the winter, but last year we did,” Appelt says.

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The CFIA is working with different levels of government, and members of the poultry industry to control the spread of the disease, says Appelt. 

One of the ways the CFIA has been attacking the disease is by identifying outbreaks and eliminating the infected bird population before the disease spreads further. The CFIA has killed 3 million domestic birds since the start of the outbreak in Oct. 2021, says Appelt. “This is not a disease that can be dealt with on an individual level.” 

The virus has proven highly transmissible due to the amount of infectious material in the form of bird excrement being produced, says Appelt. “I think of it as a massive aerial bombing that creates infectious resources that simply keep the disease going,” he says. Even if local outbreaks are handled, large amounts of infectious material remains to infect a new batch of animals and perpetuate the disease.

Now, Appelt says, the question is whether this current outbreak will dissipate. “Will this wrap up or is there now so much virus in the wildlife and in contaminated soil that we will see flare-ups continue? Nobody really knows at this point.”

Shayan Sharif, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies immunology and avian influenza, says it’s possible the outbreak could affect poultry supply chains, but it seems unlikely given the current pattern of transmission. 

“I don’t really think that consumers are going to notice a massive price rise over the span of the next few months unless we have massive amounts of transmission of this virus, especially from farm to farm,” Sharif says. “I think the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has really done a good job of trying to suppress the spread of this virus from one farm to another.”

To help limit the spread of avian flu, Sharif recommends owners of domestic birds limit their interactions with migratory birds and waterfowl. He also recommends against feeding live birds. 

This particular virus doesn’t seem to be spreading to humans, says Sharif. However, there is a concern that human transmission could eventually develop. “What we’re really concerned about is the potential for this virus to gain the ability to transmit itself from one human to another human, and then eventually cause some sort of a pandemic,” he says. “So we really need to make sure that we contain this virus and, in a sense, nip it in the bud.”

Avian flu showing up in mammals

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Cottage Life

Avian flu showing up in mammals

Photo by Layne VR/Shutterstock.com

After several skunks and foxes were found sick in the Medicine River area, Alberta wildlife specialists were stumped. The animals were all experiencing blindness, seizures, and cloudy eyes. Eventually, three foxes died. Alberta Fish and Wildlife later confirmed with lab tests that five skunks had the avian flu.

“The avian flu here in Alberta hit everybody suddenly and there’s still an awful lot of unanswered questions,” says Carol Kelly, wildlife rehabilitator and executive director at the Medicine River Wildlife Centre in Spruce View, Alberta. “Animals and birds that scavenge dead birds can contract it.”

Two of the five sick foxes did eventually recover and were released, Kelly says. “The difference that we know so far is that mammals can recover from it and they do not pass it on the way birds do,” Kelly says.

The contagious strain of the avian influenza virus has been spreading across the country, affecting wild animals and farm poultry alike. The highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) virus is widespread, even affecting birds and wild animals in PEI.

“This isn’t the first time that we’ve had HPAI or avian influenza in Canada,” reassures Thom Luloff, senior wildlife biologist at the Kawartha Wildlife Centre and conservation biology professor at Fleming College. Luloff primarily teaches vertebrate biology and animals disease and pathology. “We’ve had avian influenza since 2005.”

How to keep birds (and yourself safe from avian flu)

“We’re more interested in diseases now because we’re coming out of a pandemic,” the biologist adds.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency and stakeholders, like concerned poultry farmers, developed a “robust and effective” avian influenza strategy plan years ago, Luloff explains, referencing the pathogenic strain of the influenza virus from 2014/2015. “This isn’t the first time we’ve done this.”

Avian influenza, or bird flu, is most often found in waterfowl like ducks, geese and other shorebirds, Luloff says. Certain strains of the virus—like this year’s—can spread to poultry like chickens and turkeys. In early May, the Chicken Farmers of Canada reported the virus in nine provinces across Canada.

At the time of the interview, Luloff says the risk is “really for domesticated birds,” as there have not yet been any major mass mortality events in the wild.

“Wild ducks are known to be the principal reservoir for the global gene pool of all influenza avian viruses,” Luloff says. He reiterates that we should not feed ducks bread, or any wild animals anything at all. “We shouldn’t even be in contact with them,” he says. “They need to do what they need to do.”

“When we’re purposely making a connection [with wildlife],” he adds, “that is a problem. That breaks that separation that is supposed to exist between wild animals and anything that is domestic,” Luloff says, humans included. “It’s our pets, it’s our poultry—it’s us.”

We now know that the avian flu can affect foxes, which are canines, or dogs, but we haven’t seen it move into other species yet, Luloff says. “If we continue to keep our distance, that’s not something to be concerned about.” The more we interact, “the more likely something is to happen,” he says.

“If you have birds that have any contact with outside,” Luloff says, “you want to be very careful because these birds are highly vulnerable to infection and death.”

“You can’t do anything once they’re sick,” he adds. Birds with the highly transmissible virus sicken quickly and die quickly. “It’s always a good idea to be careful and clean with your feeders and your birdbaths in general,” Kelly says. Diseases can spread easily if feeders are not cleaned well or often, she adds.

According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, the use of bird feeders is still safe on properties without domestic poultry. Birds Canada recommends regularly cleaning feeders, if you have them.

For now, Luloff recommends taking down feeders altogether, encouraging people to maintain a safe separation between domestic and wild life. “Prevention is the absolute best way to minimize issues with avian influenza,” Luloff says. “Let’s just enjoy the beauty of nature. Let wildlife do their wild thing.” For personal safety, Kelly advises hand washing and avoiding touching the face after handling any animal.

Birds affected by avian flu will have symptoms such as “unexplained emaciation”, head-twitching, poor balance, and weakness, Kelly says. If you encounter any birds exhibiting similar symptoms, she advises calling a professional. “Let’s appreciate wildlife and keep it wild,” Luloff says. “That is better for everybody.”

Bird feeders causing illness in birds in the Pacific Northwest