In the fall of 1999, there were major outbreaks on Lakes Huron and Erie in southern Ontario. At least 700 Common Loons died on Lake Huron and several thousand birds, mostly Red-Breasted Mergansers, died on Lake Erie. Dead loons and mergansers litter the beach. Photo I.K. Barker Map showing location of the outbreaks of Type E Botulism in fish-eating birds in Canada in 1999 and in the United States in 1983. It is unlikely that people would become poisoned from eating wild birds.
Affected birds are partially paralysed and are unlikely to be hunted.
Loons, grebes, and gulls are not legally hunted in Canada and mergansers are not widely hunted and consumed . Spores of Clostridium botulinum Type E are present in water and in the flesh of fish in many parts of Canada. One outbreak of Botulism in people occurred when fish from Canada was shipped frozen to Finland, where it was then smoked and sold to consumers elsewhere in Europe. The final smoked product contained Type E botulinum toxin and poisoned a number of people. The toxin probably developed because the bacteria grew and produced toxin during the smoking process.