Toronto Zoo Closes Its Bird Aviaries To Protect Them From The Flu Spreading In Ontario

Sometimes it's easy to forget that other viruses exist in the world when still living through a pandemic. But the bird flu is spreading in Southern Ontario, and the Toronto Zoo is taking action.

On Monday, the Toronto Zoo announced in a tweet that they are "committed to the health and safety of the animals in our care and are taking proactive steps to protect our birds from avian influenza, which has been confirmed in a wild bird in southern Ontario."

They closed the bird aviaries to the public and took extra steps to protect their staff and birds.

"By limiting access to the aviaries to only Zoo staff, we protect them from any contamination that may come from outside of the Zoo," they added in the tweet thread.

In a press release posted on Tuesday, the Toronto Zoo said they are "taking immediate steps to protect the birds in our care."

Due to the closure of the bird aviaries, guests will be re-directed to manage the guest flows, and behind-the-scene tours of animal food preparations and bird housing will be suspended temporarily.

As for staff, a few precautionary measures have been put in place, such as footbaths being required when entering the bird areas, poultry being discontinued temporarily, and all outdoor birds being put in a confined and protected area.

On March 28, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced that a poultry flock in southern Ontario contained "the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI)," which they said was a subtype of H5N1.

Avian influenza, aka bird flu, can cause disease in humans on rare occasions, and they can catch the virus when in close contact with infected birds, so you might want to be careful.