As bird flu emerges in Canada, experts urge preparedness

There are no indications that H5N1 bird flu would spark a pandemic, but experts urged preparedness including stockpiling vaccines and using wastewater testing.

Health Canada has authorized three influenza vaccines that could be used if bird flu became a pandemic, the agency says.

The federal government also has an agreement with vaccine manufacturer GSK for domestic vaccine production that could be accelerated if needed, the Public Health Agency of Canada told The Canadian Press in an email.

There are no indications that H5N1 bird flu would spark a pandemic, but experts urged preparedness — including increased flu surveillance, early detection and vaccine availability.

PHAC confirmed Wednesday that a B.C. teen hospitalized last week is the first person to acquire H5N1 flu in Canada. It wasn’t known how they were exposed, but the strain is related to viruses found in flocks in an outbreak at B.C. poultry farms. The teen was critically ill in hospital as of Tuesday.

Human-to-human transmission of H5N1 — a strain of highly pathogenic avian influenza — is rare with no evidence of sustained transmission, experts say. The majority of human cases in the United States and around the world have been due to contact with infected birds, farm animals or wildlife.

But the more people become infected by animals, the more opportunities the virus has to mutate and spread between humans, said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan’s Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO).

“The longer a virus is able to get evolutionary experience with a particular host species, it’s going to continue to adapt to being in that host,” Rasmussen said.

“One of those adaptations would potentially be increased transmission and increased transmission efficiency.”