Bird flu is hitting the U.S. hard. Now, migratory birds are flying north – CBC

Mar 20, 2025

Bird flu is at a dangerous point in the United States: Nearly 167 million birds have been impacted by the H5N1 strain since 2022, and 70 people have been infected. Now, birds are flying our way for the spring migration season.

A snow goose near Montreal, a great horned owl in southwestern Ontario, a Canada goose in Langley, B.C. — these are just some of the wild birds that have recently tested positive for H5N1 in Canada. But scientists are bracing for more, and are ramping up their efforts to monitor and curb the virus this season.

This winter has seen more outbreaks of H5N1 than usual, said Dr. Manon Racicot, a veterinary epidemiologist with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Saint-Hyacinthe, Que.

“Now that the birds are coming back north for the migration, we don’t really know what’s coming to us. Will the birds still be infected? Will they be shedding the virus in the environment in Canada?”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/bird-flu-h5n1-migration-1.7486795