About 50 dead Canada geese were found on a frozen river in Lockport, Maine.

Another mass die-off of Canada geese has been found in southern Manitoba, this time north of Winnipeg.

An estimated 50 dead swans were spotted Monday lying in the ice on the frozen Red River in Lockport, about 15 kilometers north of Winnipeg.

The discovery comes after 165 swan carcasses were removed last week retention pond In Niverville, about 20 kilometers south of Winnipeg. Lab tests confirmed that he died from the extreme pathogen H5N1 strain of H5 avian influenza virus,

“W“We have not yet collected any of those carcasses (in Lockport) for testing, but based on numbers and distribution alone, we suspect the same disease is killing these birds,” said a Canadian Wildlife Service biologist. Frank Baldwin told CBC Manitoba information radio Host Marcy Marcusa on Tuesdays.

Bird flu, or avian influenza, was called “fowl plague” when it was identified in Italy in 1878 and has evolved slowly, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website They say. TeaHe The current dominant H5 strain, H5N1, emerged in China in 1996 and has since spread globally, affecting birds and mammals.

,So viruses are something that birds have evolved with, but it’s a bit of an interesting situation this year because we’ve never seen this level of mortality in swans before,” Baldwin said.

In the past, the virus didn’t really harm migratory birds, which carried it and transferred it to domestic poultry, which became sick.

Baldwin said that changed in 2021, when unprecedented wild bird deaths began to appear. First case in wild birds in Manitoba Was revealed in spring 2022.

The Public Health Agency of Canada considers the H5N1 virus to be of low risk to humans. Only two human cases have been confirmed so far in Canada: one in 2014 from a returning traveler who acquired it elsewhere, and the other – the first domestically acquired case – in British Columbia in late 2024.

However, Baldwin said people need to be careful around dead birds. They should not be touched and pets should be kept away from them.

At least one swan in Lockport appears to have been picked up by scavengers, and Baldwin said a large number of scavengers have already been confirmed by the provincial veterinary laboratory to be infected with a form of the H5 virus, including coyotes, otters, foxes, crows and ravens, snowy owls and bald eagles.

Hunters should pick birds in open areas, wash their hands regularly and ensure the meat is thoroughly cooked.

A spokesperson for Manitoba’s Department of Natural Resources said many strains of avian influenza spread among migratory species without causing widespread disease, but H5N1 is currently spreading widely in Canada and many parts of the world. said in an email.

Wild birds, particularly geese, ducks and shorebirds, are known to spread the virus between regions during spring and fall migration, when new cases are most prevalent.

Baldwin said the swans around the Winnipeg area at this time are from northern and southern Manitoba and as far away as Nunavut, based on the bands recovered.

A provincial spokesperson said 726 dead birds have been tested in Manitoba this year, and 54 have been found positive for H5N1.

While it’s not unusual to see bird flu this time of year, large numbers of dead birds in one location, such as Niverville and Lockport, are rare, Baldwin said.

“It’s definitely a cause for concern because it’s not something we’ve seen before. I was in Niverville and it was quite surprising to see the number of dead birds on several ponds in town,” he said.

“And in communicating with other colleagues across Canada, the number of dead birds in an area is not something they have experienced.”

He has not been able to determine the full impact on Canada geese. The latest data for annual banding is for 2023, Baldwin said.

“It’s possible that the impact may have been greater in the last year or two than it was originally coming into 2021.”

When the weather gets cooler, birds that haven’t yet migrated concentrate in the remaining areas of open water, Baldwin said, making it easier for the virus to move through populations much more quickly.

They also come into close contact with ducks, “which are really thought to be the main reservoir of the virus,” he said.

“And we believe that’s why the death rate is so extreme now.”

Ducks exposed to low-pathogenicity avian flu viruses have a very high background immunity and are thought to have a heightened level of immunity to the virus, which is why so few of them appear to be dead, Baldwin said.

Anyone who sees sick or dead birds can call the provincial TIP line at 1-800-782-0076.