'If you like ducks, don't feed them,' says MUN professor worried about ongoing risk of bird flu
Feeding birds might help spread avian influenza
Memorial University has put up more signs on it's St. John's campus, asking people to avoid feeding birds to prevent the spread of avian influenza.
One of those signs is at Burton's Pond, where ducks enthusiastically greet anyone who looks like they might have a pocket full of food.
Still, bird expert and MUN professor emeritus Bill Montevecchi says it's a bad idea to feed them.
"If you like ducks and you want to do them a favour, don't feed them," Montevecchi told CBC News.
"If you get a sick animal and you pack a lot of them together, the probability of that virus spreading is just increased tremendously and that's the reason to try not to aggregate the animals."
Behind Montevecchi on the pond there were two dead ducks floating in an area of open water.
He said it's impossible to know what killed them without examining them, but it's unlikely they froze or starved to death.
And it's not just ducks — all sorts of birds, such as pigeons and seabirds, can contract and spread H5N1.
First confirmed N.L infection 2021
Environment and Climate Change Canada confirmed they found the virus in Newfoundland and Labrador in November 2021, when a black-backed gull at Mundy Pond tested positive for it.
In recent years, the virus — which is particularly deadly for chickens — has spread around the globe and is still making the rounds in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Montevecchi has done research on gannets at Cape St. Mary's where the virus was first found in 2022.
"At that time I said the fuse is lit and in the next two months thousands of gannets died. So you get one bird showing up and then boom," he said.
The virus has also infected and killed other animals like foxes, and in extremely rare cases the H5N1 strains of avian flu can infect humans who've had close contact with infected birds.
"There are concerns, you know, they're minor, but you can't ignore them. There are concerns about human transmission to humans and there's been a few rare cases on farms," said Montevecchi.
In a one-year partnership between Memorial University, the provincial government and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, researchers at MUN are currently looking at hundreds of carcasses of fur bearing animals that have been collected from trappers.
Researchers are testing them for avian influenza, but in January the scientists told CBC News they don't have any results to report yet.
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