AHS issues closure order for Calgary’s Butterfield Acres due to avian influenza

Butterfield Acres Petting Farm has been shuttered amid an outbreak of avian influenza. Meanwhile, health officials say risk to humans is low.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) has issued a closure order for a Calgary petting farm after avian influenza was detected.

According to AHS, health officials with Primary Care Alberta were notified about nine cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) at Butterfield Acres on Oct. 16.

The facility voluntarily closed from Oct. 13 to 17.

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AHS then issued a formal closure order on Oct. 17.

Butterfield Acres will remain closed until the conditions of the closure order have been met and it’s deemed safe to reopen by medical officers.

“While HPAI primarily affects birds, rare human infections have occurred through close contact with infected animals,” AHS said in a Sunday news release. “The risk to the public remains low.”

Despite this, those who visited the petting farm between Oct. 6 and 12 are asked to call 811 and isolate at home if they have experienced fever, cough, sore throat, or other flu-like symptoms.

In a statement on its website, Butterfield Acres said it was working closely with provincial and federal health authorities.

“Thank you to everyone for all your care and concern,” reads the statement. “It means so much to all of us here. Know that we are working through all the little steps to get things back on track as quickly as we can.”

‘Uptick in cases’

Dayna Goldsmith, a veterinarian anatomic pathologist at the University of Calgary, does surveillance on wild birds for avian influenza.

“Since the beginning of September, this fall, we have seen an uptick in cases,” she said.

“Historically, wild birds have been an important reservoir for bird flu, but they usually don’t get sick with it. All of that changed for us in North America back in 2022/late 2021, when we started seeing wild birds that were dying from this virus.”

Goldsmith said birds typically show symptoms including infection and inflammation in their brains and abnormal behaviour, like swimming in circles.

She says the current strain is considered low risk to humans.

“It tends to be people who are working with a lot of birds or poultry workers working in high-density barns. Most of the time when people get this infection, they get quite mild symptoms.”

Symptoms of avian influenza

Symptoms of avian influenza can range from very mild to severe, depending on the specific virus.

According to AHS, the most common symptoms include:

• Pink eye (conjunctivitis);
• Fever;
• Fatigue;
• Muscle/body aches;
• Headache;
• Sore throat, cough, stuffy or runny nose;
• Nausea and vomiting;
• Diarrhea; and
• Shortness of breath (dyspnea).

AHS says those who visited the farm between Oct. 6 and 12 but are not experiencing symptoms do not need to call 811.