First Nations in northeastern Ontario are preparing for the spring goose hunt, but while the deeply significant cultural tradition is eagerly anticipated, it’s tinged with anxiety this year as well thanks to reports of avian influenza in southern Ontario.
The Canadian Wildlife Health Co-operative attached to the University of Guelph monitors the spread of bird flu based on the retrieval of dead or affected birds that volunteers send to them.
A database on the organization’s website shows the last positive case in the northeast was in a live mallard last September near Matheson, with previous cases in wild birds in Sudbury and North Bay in 2022.
Brian Stevens is a wildlife pathologist for the Ontario, Nunavut Region.
He says so far this winter, he isn’t aware of any positive cases, even though the virus may be carried by migrating wild birds.
“It doesn’t mean that the virus wasn’t up there,” he said. “It just means, if there were birds that were dying from it, we weren’t able to test them for some reason, whether it just wasn’t brought into us, or the animal wasn’t able to make it to us for different reasons.”
Stevens said it may be daunting to people living in remote areas to know what to do if they come across a dead bird or how to report one that appears sick.
“We definitely are missing cases out there if nobody is seeing them or if they don’t know to contact us if they do find dead birds,” he said. “So we are definitely not out there on the landscape doing active surveillance.”
Stevens says you can contact the Canadian Wildlife Health Co-operative for information on how to report and submit dead birds.
Another person who is interested in getting reports from those out on the land is Alex Litvinov.
He’s an aquatic biologist working for the Lands and Resources department of the Moose Cree First Nation.
He said he’s been getting lots of questions from First Nations as they prepare for the spring goose hunt, and he’s hearing concerns from them.
Litvinov notes that the hunt is more than a way for the Cree to stock their freezers, it’s a cultural activity that brings families together and connects them to the land.
Boys become men by harvesting their first goose.
“That’s actually a very sacred tradition for First Nation communities and I don’t think they will stop doing it unless birds stop flying,” said Litvinov.
While he is worried about the virus spreading north, he said the risk of transmission to humans is low at the moment.
Still, he said hunters want to know how to safely harvest and protect their families from illness.
He said he tells hunters to wear extra gloves and eye protection to prevent blood and other fluids from splashing onto them, and to clean the animals away from other people.
“Sometimes it’s really hard to find a safe place, or like a separate place from family members to dissect, but we advise them to do it,” said Litvinov.
As well, he said they need to store goose meat separately from other meat, because freezing doesn’t kill the virus.
Litvinov said anyone who comes across dead or strange looking birds can report to him and he can submit them to the proper authorities for testing.
