December 16, 2025

The Office of the Chief Provincial Veterinarian has partnered with the University of Calgary Faculty of Veterinary Medicine to provide this notice of a recent HPAI case detected in a dog.
In November 2025, a 10-year-old female spayed goldendoodle presented to an Alberta practice for vomiting, inappetence, and lethargy. The dog had a long-term history of immune mediated thrombocytopenia and was being managed with Atopica and prednisone. The dog was reported to have ingested a sick snow goose one week prior. On presentation, the dog was pyrexic (40.8°C) with mucopurulent discharge from the right eye. Over 48 hours, the patient’s condition progressively worsened to collapse, blood-tinged saliva, cough, dyspnea, and marked laryngeal swelling. Thoracic imaging progressed from unremarkable to diffuse interstitial-to-alveolar pattern. Laboratory data showed persistent neutrophilia, lymphopenia, hyperbilirubinemia, thrombocytopenia, dehydration, and declining oxygen saturation despite aggressive therapy. The patient died four days after initial presentation. The body was submitted to the University of Calgary, Diagnostic Services Unit, for necropsy.Gross examination was unremarkable but histologic evaluation identified a severe acute multifocal necrotizing interstitial pneumonia and a lymphoplasmacytic and neutrophilic meningitis. These lesions are consistent with those seen in other HPAI infected mammals. Samples were submitted to the Alberta Agriculture Agri-Food Assurance laboratory in Edmonton and tested positive on PCR for influenza A H5. The original samples as well as tissue samples were then submitted to CFIA and were confirmed positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1. This is the second detection in a domestic dog in Canada, the first being in Ontario in 2023. Previous Alberta cases have been detected in cats and numerous wild mammals. A reminder that influenza in all species is a federally reportable disease that must be reported to a local CFIA District Office. H5N1 continues to circulate in wild waterfowl in Canada and mammals can be infected, particularly
through consumption of contaminated material. Alberta’s provincial laboratory can provide testing for cats and dogs showing respiratory or neurological signs and have a potential exposure such as contact with HPAI positive poultry, cavenging waterfowl carcasses, or consumption of raw food containing poultry meat.