The bird flu is hitting the United States hard. Now, migratory birds are flying north
In the United States, bird flu is at a dangerous position: Since 2022, the H5N1 strain has affected nearly 167 million birds and infected 70 people. Now, during the spring immigration season, birds are flying.
A snow goose near Montreal is a big-horned owl in southwestern Ontario, a Canadian goose in Langley, British Columbia – these are just wild birds that have recently tested positive for Canadian H5N1. But scientists are providing more efforts for more efforts and are strengthening their efforts to monitor and contain the virus this season.
Dr. Manon Racicot, a veterinary epidemiologist at Que’s Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), said there were more H5N1 outbreaks this winter than usual.
“Since birds are migrating north, we really don’t know what will happen. Will these birds get infected? Will they emit viruses in the Canadian environment?”
It also added scientists’ attention: Another strain of influenza avian species was reported on a poultry farm in Mississippi, the United States, for the first time since 2017. Although not the main type of bird flu currently in the United States, H7N9 has a much higher mortality rate than H5N1, causing nearly 40% of human-killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds killed birds. authorities.
A mutation
H5N1 also spans species and is suitable for mammalian hosts. Animals such as seals, cats and dogs die after mixing with wild birds or eating raw food.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. dairy cows are already sick, with 989 cattle herds affecting them in 17 states.
At present, bird flu seems not to spread easily. However, the strain of H5N1 circulating in American cows is only a mutation, not more transmissible between humans. A study Recently published in the peer-reviewed journal Science.
When it infects humans, the virus can be fatal. In January, a senior in Louisiana became the first human death associated with H5N1 in the United States
The only known case of H5N1 in Canada was confirmed two months ago, November: A teenager in British Columbia was hospitalized for two months. We still don’t know how she got infected.
In both cases, genetic analysis suggests The virus has mutated become More efficiently attached to cells in the upper respiratory tract.
All of this makes scientists and doctors highly alert.
“Frankly, avian flu is very concerned because we don’t want the virus to adapt to humans,” said Dr. Danuta Skowronski, an epidemiologist at the British Columbia Center for Disease Control (BCCDC).
“We all have a responsibility to shut it down as soon as possible. It’s a global effort. We are communicating globally with the United States, the United Kingdom, and we ensure we get the best knowledge anywhere.”
Who to quit, rush to rehire employees
Ian Brown, a leading avian influenza expert at the Pirbright Institute in the UK, said it is crucial for U.S. authorities to continue to communicate with other countries and the World Health Organization (WHO) as the disease changes now.
But the Trump administration is pulling the United States out of the WHO. It also cuts funds and work in major institutions such as the National Institutes of Health.
“We know this is a sensitive situation. We know some colleagues who may have risks of working,” Brown said.
He said this was the early stage, but he was concerned that information sharing between American scientists and international peers would decrease.
“Early signs that we have been used to successful years of interactions and now we may be compromised.”
There have been mistakes.
The Ministry of Agriculture has Scramble to lie again At the advice of Elon Musk’s government efficiency ministry, employees who responded to bird flu were mistakenly fired in the case of rapid removal of federal labor. They have been having difficulty getting them back, Politico reports.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on Monday that who has seen the impact on the monitoring of influenza in birds.
Is the United States talking to Canada through bird flu?
Thankfully, though, the United States is returning to Canada’s call for human flu cases, especially among those working with infected poultry or cows, said Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer.
“I think every level of public health is trying to be alert to cases in these different populations and we are continuing to share information,” Tam said.
Canada relies on the United States to effectively contain the virus. For example, in terms of animal health, U.S. and Canadian officials work together to monitor bird flights and keep a close eye on wild and domestic birds, sharing mutations of concern and approximate locations of infected birds.
At the provincial level, the British Columbia team remains in close contact with peers in states such as Washington, Oregon and Alaska, said Dr. Bonnie Henry, a BC health official.
“I think one thing that helps us is our relationship, our personal relationship.”
Canada also keeps a close eye on our cows: original milk samples tested by CFIA arrive at the processing plant. So far, all samples have returned to negative as of February 28.
Learn from Covid-19
But both Tam and Henry stressed that it is important to strengthen monitoring and prepare in Canada, especially as the virus changes and becomes more spread in humans, which could inspire the pandemic.
These efforts include “increased monitoring and vigilance, laboratory testing to ensure investigations of any human case”.
BCCDC scientists are numerous preparations in Canada.
“Through the pandemic, we have learned a lot about the tools public health can make decisions,” said Linda Hoang, medical director of its Public Health Laboratory.
BCCDC is monitoring mutations that may make H5N1 more suitable for humans, developing antibody tests to monitor human exposure and study how influenza in avians spread.
If the virus becomes more transmissible, then all information is crucial to the decision makers.
Henry said she was confident—even if her American counterparts had temporary silence, Canadian surveillance was enough to keep an eye on bird flu.
