According to the B.C. government, the skunks might have caught influenza from scavenging wild birds.

Skunks found dead last month in Richmond, B.C., and adjacent Vancouver have tested positive for avian influenza.

The outbreak that started in April 2022, according to the B.C. government, was caused by the same type of avian influenza.

In both locations, the skunks were discovered in neighborhoods and Concerns that the skunks may have been poisoned on purpose led to their transport to the Animal Health Centre in British Columbia.

The skunks were infected with the same H5N1 type that has killed millions of domestic poultry since the outbreak started in April of last year, according to the British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture.

According to a statement from the ministry, skunks may have picked up the H5N1 virus through preying on infected wild birds.

There are always hazards when people or their pets come into touch with sick or dead wild animals, the statement reads, even though avian flu in skunks is thought to pose a low risk to human health.

According to the ministry, since last April, more than 20 different species of wild birds, two skunks, and a fox were all located in rural parts of the province.