{"id":109721,"date":"2026-01-08T00:02:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T00:02:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/109721\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T00:02:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T00:02:08","slug":"try-to-minimize-the-spread-nearly-30-of-lake-eola-swans-dead-from-bird-flu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/109721\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Try to minimize the spread:\u2019 Nearly 30% of Lake Eola swans dead from bird flu"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 More swans have died at Lake Eola, and the city of Orlando has confirmed<\/a> avian flu is responsible, raising growing concerns among residents who consider the birds a symbol of downtown.<\/p>\n

As of Tuesday, 20 swans from the Lake Eola flock have died, according to the veterinarian responsible for their care. Another swan showing symptoms consistent with avian flu was brought in for treatment Tuesday morning, bringing losses to nearly 30% of the park\u2019s swan population.<\/p>\n

Dr. Geoffrey Gardner, who has cared for the Lake Eola swans for more than 20 years, said this is not the first time the park has seen avian influenza, but it is the most severe outbreak in years.<\/p>\n

[VIDEO: Orlando officials confirm avian flu responsible for 19 swan deaths at Lake Eola Park ]<\/p>\n

City officials confirmed Monday that avian flu caused the recent deaths after necropsies \u2014 animal autopsies \u2014 were conducted on the initial group of birds.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going to have to build up herd immunity and it\u2019s going to run through the flock, including the waterfowl,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cAnd then next year or next this summer, the birds that are left will be immune.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orlando previously dealt with an avian flu outbreak in February 2024, but Gardner said the virus mutates much like the flu in humans, which can make each outbreak different. While bird-to-human transmission is rare, he said avian flu can present similarly in both people and birds.<\/p>\n

\u201cWeakness, in appearance, the nasal and ocular eye discharge,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cSo similar to humans. Yeah. I\u2019m very similar people. And it is transmitted through secretions from respiratory secretions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some residents have raised concerns that the water quality at Lake Eola may be contributing to the spread of the virus, but Gardner said that is not the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe water quality itself doesn\u2019t have anything to do with avian influenza,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cThe city manages that because it\u2019s part of the park, and to my knowledge it\u2019s always within the standards.\u201d<\/p>\n

As the outbreak continues, Gardner said efforts are focused on protecting the swans that remain. That includes treating birds that show symptoms and attempting to slow the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to mitigate the spread by using baking powder,\u201d Gardner said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s an antiviral, kind of like Tamiflu in people. And we\u2019re trying to get birds out of the lake that are showing signs and get them some treatment to see if we can try to minimize the spread of the virus while they get through it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite posted warning signs around the park urging people not to feed the birds, Gardner said some visitors continue to ignore the guidance.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can educate but you can\u2019t fix stupid,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

City officials said a team is monitoring the swans around the clock and emphasized there is no alternative location where the birds could be relocated safely.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 More swans have died at Lake Eola, and the city of Orlando has confirmed avian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":109722,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[1684,52230,1610,8411,1335,139,141,140,52016],"class_list":["post-109721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-animals","tag-bird-flu","tag-lake-eola","tag-lake-eola-park","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-swans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=109721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/109721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/109722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=109721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=109721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=109721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}