Orlando officials confirm Lake Eola Swans are dying from bird flu

The swans of Lake Eola Park are known to draw the public's attention, but this week, it’s out of concern instead of amazement.

City of Orlando officials confirmed Wednesday several birds at Lake Eola Park had been infected with avian influenza, also known as bird flu. The announcement came after officials found several birds had died at the park.

Four swans have been found dead in the past two weeks, two of which, a Royal Mute swan and an Australian black swan, were confirmed to have died from the virus. Officials are still waiting on results from the other two deceased swans.

Although the city is working to disinfect the park, officials recommend visitors and pets at Lake Eola Park continue to avoid direct contact with the birds and avoid contact with any excrement from birds. They also recommend removing shoes that may be contaminated when entering homes and cleaning them off.

Bird flu is highly contagious and almost always fatal in birds. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say bird flu viruses usually do not affect humans, but there have been rare cases in which the virus has spread to people and caused flu-like symptoms.

There are currently more than 60 swans living at Lake Eola Park. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission as well as local veterinarians are working to limit the spread of the virus between them now that they know of the outbreak.

This isn’t the first swan-related tragedy that Lake Eola has seen. In 2023, several baby swans went missing, and it was found that raccoons were the culprits.

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