Avian flu threat fades on farms but may be back in the fall | 24CA News

The worst of the chicken flu epidemic on Canadian poultry farms appears to be over, however the extremely contagious and lethal illness continues to unfold amongst wild birds and farmers are fearful spring and fall migrations will carry additional outbreaks.

The extremely pathogenic H5N1 pressure of avian influenza was first detected in Canada in late 2021 and prompted the Canadian Food Inspection Agency to impose strict biosecurity measures to curb its unfold.

Before egg farmer Juschka Clarke enters her rooster enclosure in Abbotsford, B.C., she takes particular precautions.

“When we get to our barns, our footwear gets changed,” mentioned Clarke. “We put on biosecure suits that make sure that we’re not bringing anything outside to inside our barns at all.”

She desires to guard her 4,000 laying hens from the worst outbreak of the avian flu in a decade.

Farmers throughout the nation have misplaced seven million birds since late 2021.

The B.C. Egg Producers Association says about one million laying hens have been misplaced there to the contagious pressure.

“When we walk into our barns we don’t know what we’re gonna see,” Clarke mentioned. “They’re walking in and seeing catastrophes and disasters — it’s a high level of anxiety for sure.”

The good news is that stringent security protocols could have had an influence and the worst is over for the poultry trade, at the very least for now.

Migration could carry outbreaks

Marc Bertrand, nationwide operations veterinary specialist for the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, says the CFIA established major management zones (PCZ) within the areas the place the extremely pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was detected. At the peak of the outbreak, it declared 177 of those zones.

“Right now it seems that it’s finally receding. We are left with only two infected zones in Canada, both in Ontario,” he mentioned.

The unhealthy news, he says, is that if flocks of untamed birds act as a reservoir for the virus, it will likely be again.

“There are two migration seasons every year, spring and fall. And those are the periods where we will see outbreaks.”

Brian Stevens is a wildlife pathologist with the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative in Guelph, Ont., mentioned the issue has unfold to Canada geese within the Greater Toronto Area. He has investigated a number of die-offs.

“We’ve tested a number of geese at this point and over the past two weeks … all of the geese that we have tested have come back positive for avian influenza virus,” he mentioned.

Stevens says that extra chicken species seem prone to this pressure of H5N1 than others — there greater than 180 altogether — and there may be proof it has unfold to some animals that eat contaminated chicken carcasses, equivalent to foxes and bears. 

Virus spreading to mammals

“We’re definitely seeing a lot of different mammalian carnivores and likely these animals are scavenging on the wild birds as well,” he mentioned.

“So that’s another thing that we’ve kind of come across with this one that we haven’t seen in past outbreaks is that the scavenger species are really getting hit hard by it.”

Eight skunks discovered useless final month in Richmond, B.C., and Vancouver examined optimistic for avian flu.

In Peru, authorities say greater than 700 sea lions have died of avian flu since January.

Dr. Shayan Sharif, an avian immunologist with the Ontario Veterinary College in Guelph, Ont., mentioned it is disconcerting to listen to the virus is likely to be adapting to mammals.

“That is not a very good sign,” he mentioned.

Sharif says the extra probabilities this virus has to leap into mammals, the extra probabilities it has to mutate, adapt and probably unfold between mammals.

‘We should be prepared’

“Our concern is that this virus at the moment, doesn’t have the capacity for spillover to the human population,” he mentioned. 

“Based on what we are seeing recently in mammals, there’s a possibility, even though it’s not very likely, but there is a possibility that it could also be lethal for humans.”

Sharif says it isn’t too early to think about the potential for a human avian flu pandemic and to have a plan.

“If we’ve learned just one lesson from COVID-19, it is the fact that viruses are quite unpredictable in terms of the mutations that they can accumulate. Highly unpredictable. So we have to be ready for that unpredictable future.”

In a press release to 24CA News, Health Canada says though there aren’t any domestically acquired human circumstances of H5N1 reported in Canada, and no sustained person-to-person transmission has been reported, it’s taking precautions.

“The government of Canada maintains pandemic vaccine preparedness contracts in the event of a pandemic (including one caused by avian influenza), and currently has agreements with several manufacturers to secure priority access and reserve production capacity if needed to rapidly manufacture and deliver large numbers of vaccine doses to help protect people in Canada.“