The bird flu is at a dangerous point in the United States: Almost 167 million birds have been infected by the H5N1 strain and 70 people since 2022. Now the birds are flying for the spring migration season.
A Snowans near Montreal, a large horn owl in the southwest of Ontario, a Canada goose in Langley, BC -these are just a few of the wild birds that have recently been positive for H5N1 in Canada. However, scientists are more pursuing and increasing their efforts to monitor and contain the virus this season.
This winter has experienced more outbreaks of H5N1 than usual, said Dr. Manon Racicot, a veterinary epidemiologist at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Saint-Hyacinthe, que.
“Now that the birds come north to migration, we don’t really know what comes to us. Will the birds still be infected? Will you put the virus in the environment in Canada?”
In addition to the concern of the scientists: Another tribe of the bird flu, H7N9, has been reported in a poultry farm in Mississippi, USA – since 2017. Although it is not the dominant type of bird flu that is currently making rounds in the USA, H7N9 has a much higher mortality rate than H5N1, which has been killed almost 40 percent of the state. Authorities.
A mutation away
H5N1 also crossed species and adapted to mammalian hosts. Animals such as seals, cats and dogs died after mixing wild birds or eating raw home -made food.
The dairy cows in the United States got sick in droves. According to the centers for the control and prevention of diseases, 989 herds in 17 states are affected.
The bird flu does not seem to be easily transferred for the time being. However, the H5N1 tribe circulating in cows in the USA is only a mutation that is more transferable between humans a study Recently published in the peer review journal Science.
And if people infect people, the virus can be fatal. In January a senior in Louisiana was the first H5N1 man in the USA
Canada’s only known case of H5N1 was confirmed two months earlier in November: a teenager in British Columbia who was hospitalized for two months. We still don’t know how she was infected.
In both cases, the genetic analysis indicated the Virus had mutated to Become more effective when attaching To cells in the upper respiratory tract.
All of this has scientists and doctors with a high alert.
“To be honest, a single case of Vogel -Influenza is very worrying because we don’t want the virus to adapt to people,” said Dr. Danuta Skowronski, epidemiologist at the BC Center for Disease Control (BCCDC).
“We all have the responsibility of switching this as soon as possible to contain it. This is a global effort. We communicate worldwide with the USA, with Great Britain, wherever we can, to ensure that we get the best possible knowledge.”
Pull
Since the disease in the United States is currently changing, it is important that the American authorities continue to communicate with other countries and the World Health Organization (WHO), says Ian Brown, a leading expert in Vogel Influenza at the Pirbright Institute in Great Britain
But the Trump government is pulling the US out of the WHO. It also reduces funds and jobs in important agencies such as the National Institutes of Health.
“We know that it is a sensitive situation. We know some of our colleagues that they could not have the risk of not having a job,” said Brown.
It is early, he says, but he fears that it will be reduced that the exchange of information between American scientists and international colleagues will be reduced.
“Early signs are that the interaction that we have been familiar with for many years can now be affected.”
There have already been missteps.
The agricultural department has Squipped after Rehire Employees who work on the bird flu’s reaction after they had incorrectly released them on recommendations from the Department of Government Efficiency of Elon Musk during their quick cleaning of the federal employees. They had problems getting them back Politico reported.
The WHO has already seen an influence on the cuts for monitoring bird flu, said General Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday.
Are the USA talking to Canada about bird flu?
Fortunately, the United States, however, respond to Canada’s views of human cases of bird flu, especially among those who work with infected poultry or dairy cattle, says Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer.
“I think public health at every level is trying to be very vigilant in these different population groups in relation to cases, and we share information on an ongoing basis,” said Tam.
Canada is dependent on the USA to effectively contain the virus. On the Animal Health page, for example, the US and Canadian officials work together to monitor bird flying and keep an eye on the wild and domestic birds and to share concerns and mutations of concerns, as well as approximate places of the infected birds.
Teams in British Columbia also keep in touch with colleagues in states such as Washington, Oregon and Alaska, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, Provincial Health Officer from BC.
“I think one of the things that help us are the relationships we have personal relationships.”
Canada also keeps an eye on our dairy cows: the CFIA tests of raw milk that arrive in processing systems. So far, all samples have been negatively returned from February 28th.
Learning from Covid-19
But both Tam and Henry emphasize: It is important to improve and prepare Canada’s surveillance, especially if the virus changes and becomes more transferable among people, which could trigger a pandemic.
These efforts include “increasing surveillance and vigilance, laboratory tests to ensure that a human case is examined,” said Tam.
BCCDC scientists are already some of these preparatory work among many Canada.
“Due to the pandemic, we have learned a lot about tools with which public health can make its decisions,” said Linda Hoang, medical director of the Labor for Public Health.
The BCCDC monitors that H5N1 are more adapted for humans could develop antibody tests to monitor human exposure and to investigate the transmission of bird flu.
It is all information that could be crucial for decision -makers if the virus could become more transmitted.
Henry says that she is confident – even if there are temporary silence from American colleagues – that Canadian surveillance is strong enough to keep an eye on the bird flu.
