Health Canada is aiming to cut the risk to front-line Canadians such as farm workers, vets and medical staff
The federal government has purchased half a million vaccines designed to prevent H5N1 avian influenza — also known as “bird flu” — in humans.
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“Experts are concerned that Canada may be entering a dangerous period with migratory birds returning from their southern wintering grounds — carrying new mutations of H5N1 virus — while the human H1N1 flu season is still in full swing,” writes Oliver Dyer in a Feb. 24 article in the BMJ. “The swapping of viral genetic material in humans infected with both viruses simultaneously could lead to the formation of new strains, which combine the lethality of bird flu with the transmissibility of human flu.”
How has bird flu been transmitted to humans?
Dyer writes that H5N1 bird flu has infected more than 1,000 dairy herds in the U.S., as well as hundreds of chicken farms throughout Canada and the U.S. In the U.S., 69 people tested positive for the virus. However, 68 of them were infected with the variant circulating in U.S. cows, which resulted in unusually mild symptoms in humans.
“It is the only H5N1 flu variant known to cause mild disease in humans; across the world 54 per cent of the people who have contracted H5N1 flu have died,” says Dyer.
The Canadian patient was in a B.C. hospital on respiratory support for two months before he was discharged from hospital. (He has not been publicly identified.)
Has the U.S. effort been affected by agriculture department firings?
Political developments south of the border are affecting how the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is coping with bird flu concerns.
“Although several positions supporting (the avian influenza program) were notified of their terminations over the weekend, we are working to rectify the situation and rescind those letters,” a USDA spokesperson told NBC.
How has H5N5 turned up in Canada?
Five other countries have reported the H5N5 virus so far in 2025: the U.K., Greenland, Germany, Iceland and Norway.
What is Canada doing to contain the risk?
Canada is implementing several measures to contain the ongoing bird flu outbreak.
Culling infected birds: Since 2021 more than 15 million birds have been culled in Canada to control the spread of avian influenza.
Wastewater surveillance: The University of Ottawa’s wastewater lab is leading local surveillance to determine whether avian influenza is responsible for any influenza A infections detected in wastewater.
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