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‘Potentially devastating’: Bird flu cases in mammals put Canadian scientists on alert

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A rise in mammals infected with bird flu has put Canadian wildlife and public health experts on alert, as recent research by federal scientists warns of a “potentially devastating pandemic” if the virus tearing through poultry flocks eventually mutates to spread efficiently between humans.

Avian influenza cases are very rare in humans – there have been fewer than a dozen confirmed H5N1 cases globally since 2020 – and no instances of it passing from human to human. But experts say public health agencies are right to keep a close eye on how the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 evolves.

“There are enough red flags that we’re beholden to prepare,” said Dr. Samira Mubareka, an infectious disease specialist and clinician scientist at Sunnybrook Research Institute and the University of Toronto.

H5N1 was first identified in 1996, but a new type of the virus emerged in 2020. It was first detected in North America in late 2021 and has since decimated flocks of wild and domesticated birds, resulting in millions of poultry deaths across Canada either from infection or culls to prevent its spread.

While cases in mammals are to be expected during a bird flu outbreak, Mubareka said part of what’s captured the attention of scientists is the range of species infected.

“If the virus spills over into new species, it always gains an opportunity to mutate and adapt even further,” she said. “So this is really an unprecedented level of viral activity for H5N1.”

Last week, the first Canadian case in a pet dog was reported, adding to hundreds of confirmed cases in wild skunks, foxes, mink and other mammals since the start of last year. This month, three outbreaks were confirmed at poultry operations east of Montreal and a fourth at a farm west of London, Ont., with farmers bracing for a possible wave of cases as migratory birds return this spring.

Public health agencies in Canada, the U.S. and Europe agree the risk to human health remains low, with cases almost always limited to direct contact with infected birds or contaminated environments, such as a poultry barn. There is no risk associated with eating thoroughly cooked poultry products.

Scientists, however, are studying the virus closely.

In a paper published last month, scientists with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency working out of a lab in Winnipeg, where Canadian cases of H5N1 are confirmed and genetically sequenced, looked at cases in 40 different wild mammals. The researchers found the virus had undergone some “critical mutations,” though the agency said the chances of human spillover remains minimal.

“The spillover of these viruses from wild birds to mammals could cause a potentially devastating pandemic if the H5N1 viruses mutate into forms that can spread efficiently among the mammalian species,” read the paper, published in the peer-reviewed journal Emerging Microbes & Infections.

The critical mutations researchers uncovered involved part of the virus that helped it make copies of itself, adding to similar findings reported globally. In 17 per cent of the cases, the scientists found changes that gave the virus better advantages to replicate in humans.

But, in an encouraging sign, the researchers wrote the virus had not developed a strong preference to lock on to receptors in a person’s nose, mouth and throat – the target of an influenza virus and a key to human infection.

The Public Health Agency of Canada said it takes the situation “very seriously,” with multiple surveillance networks to monitor and track influenza viruses. Together with lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic, it said it has been able to build H5N1-specific plans across government departments.

Shayan Sharif, professor and acting dean at the Ontario Veterinary College, said he is most concerned about the possibility that the virus is going to change to the point where it becomes more dangerous to humans and gains the capacity for human-to-human transmission.

“I don’t think that this virus is going to go anywhere,” he said. “I hope that I’m wrong.”

The U.S. Centre for Disease Control said it recently produced a candidate vaccine virus for H5N1 that could be used to produce a vaccine for people, if needed.

As for poultry, Canada, along with the U.S., has so far been reluctant to roll out an H5N1 vaccine campaign for the birds, but it’s a step Sharif said the government should consider.

The European Union’s 27 member states have agreed to implement a bird flu vaccine strategy, with Mexico, Egypt and China on the growing list of countries inoculating chickens against H5N1.

Sharif, whose expertise is in avian influenza immunology in chickens, said targeted vaccination could help prevent poultry losses and reduce the spread of the virus, but it has also proven controversial given some import trade bans on vaccinated poultry over fears the birds could unintentionally introduce the virus.

Marc Betrand, a veterinary specialist with the CFIA, said Canada is not ready to roll out a vaccine strategy. The H5N1 chicken vaccines “are not that efficient,” he said, and could end up triggering more mutations to the virus.

The CFIA, which heads up the federal response to H5N1 in farmed birds, said measures such as routine cleaning and isolating new birds are key to prevent outbreaks.

Avian flu has also been hitting wild bird populations in a “completely unprecedented” way, said Catherine Soos, a wildlife disease specialist and a research scientist with Environment Canada.

The federal agency is charged with monitoring migratory birds and species at risk. It will be keeping a close eye this spring on migratory bird populations returning north, bringing potentially new versions of the virus, Soos said.

It’s also watching to see how certain wild bird species hit hard by H5N1 bounce back this year. About 1,600 breeding female Common eiders turned up dead last year along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, an estimated five to 15 per cent of the population, Soos said.

“We definitely want to monitor these populations,” she said.

 

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How many Nova Scotians are on the doctor wait-list? Number hit 160,000 in June

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HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia government says it could be months before it reveals how many people are on the wait-list for a family doctor.

The head of the province’s health authority told reporters Wednesday that the government won’t release updated data until the 160,000 people who were on the wait-list in June are contacted to verify whether they still need primary care.

Karen Oldfield said Nova Scotia Health is working on validating the primary care wait-list data before posting new numbers, and that work may take a matter of months. The most recent public wait-list figures are from June 1, when 160,234 people, or about 16 per cent of the population, were on it.

“It’s going to take time to make 160,000 calls,” Oldfield said. “We are not talking weeks, we are talking months.”

The interim CEO and president of Nova Scotia Health said people on the list are being asked where they live, whether they still need a family doctor, and to give an update on their health.

A spokesperson with the province’s Health Department says the government and its health authority are “working hard” to turn the wait-list registry into a useful tool, adding that the data will be shared once it is validated.

Nova Scotia’s NDP are calling on Premier Tim Houston to immediately release statistics on how many people are looking for a family doctor. On Tuesday, the NDP introduced a bill that would require the health minister to make the number public every month.

“It is unacceptable for the list to be more than three months out of date,” NDP Leader Claudia Chender said Tuesday.

Chender said releasing this data regularly is vital so Nova Scotians can track the government’s progress on its main 2021 campaign promise: fixing health care.

The number of people in need of a family doctor has more than doubled between the 2021 summer election campaign and June 2024. Since September 2021 about 300 doctors have been added to the provincial health system, the Health Department said.

“We’ll know if Tim Houston is keeping his 2021 election promise to fix health care when Nova Scotians are attached to primary care,” Chender said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Newfoundland and Labrador monitoring rise in whooping cough cases: medical officer

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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. – Newfoundland and Labrador‘s chief medical officer is monitoring the rise of whooping cough infections across the province as cases of the highly contagious disease continue to grow across Canada.

Dr. Janice Fitzgerald says that so far this year, the province has recorded 230 confirmed cases of the vaccine-preventable respiratory tract infection, also known as pertussis.

Late last month, Quebec reported more than 11,000 cases during the same time period, while Ontario counted 470 cases, well above the five-year average of 98. In Quebec, the majority of patients are between the ages of 10 and 14.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick has declared a whooping cough outbreak across the province. A total of 141 cases were reported by last month, exceeding the five-year average of 34.

The disease can lead to severe complications among vulnerable populations including infants, who are at the highest risk of suffering from complications like pneumonia and seizures. Symptoms may start with a runny nose, mild fever and cough, then progress to severe coughing accompanied by a distinctive “whooping” sound during inhalation.

“The public, especially pregnant people and those in close contact with infants, are encouraged to be aware of symptoms related to pertussis and to ensure vaccinations are up to date,” Newfoundland and Labrador’s Health Department said in a statement.

Whooping cough can be treated with antibiotics, but vaccination is the most effective way to control the spread of the disease. As a result, the province has expanded immunization efforts this school year. While booster doses are already offered in Grade 9, the vaccine is now being offered to Grade 8 students as well.

Public health officials say whooping cough is a cyclical disease that increases every two to five or six years.

Meanwhile, New Brunswick’s acting chief medical officer of health expects the current case count to get worse before tapering off.

A rise in whooping cough cases has also been reported in the United States and elsewhere. The Pan American Health Organization issued an alert in July encouraging countries to ramp up their surveillance and vaccination coverage.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 10, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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