Author of the article: The Canadian Press Brieanna Charlebois A chicken looks in the barn at Honey Brook Farm in Schuylkill Haven, Pa., Monday, April 18, 2022. Experts say outbreaks of H5N1 represent an unprecedented threat to Canada, infecting about 200 flocks with about 3.5 million birds across the country. Photo: Lindsey Shuey/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

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By some measures, the ongoing bird flu outbreaks in British Columbia pale in comparison to the devastating 2004 outbreak of the disease that killed 17 million birds.

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But the enemy farmers and scientists now face represents an unprecedented challenge, experts say. Start your day with a roundup of BC-focused news and opinion delivered straight to your inbox at 7am, Monday to Friday. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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The current H5N1 strain “behaves very differently” than previous versions, says British Columbia’s chief veterinarian Theresa Burns. Unlike previous strains that were geographically isolated, the new threat is spreading across the country. The strain is highly pathogenic and can cause severe disease and death in birds. “The scale is completely different,” Burns said in an interview, compared to previous BC outbreaks in 2004, 2009 and 2014. “In all of these other outbreaks, BC was the only province affected and it was only in the Fraser Valley. Now we’re seeing them being affected across Canada, North America and Europe.”

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This year, H5N1 has infected about 200 flocks of more than 3.5 million birds across Canada. Worryingly, wild bird deaths are on the rise, amid fears the disease has become endemic in Canada. The disease, which has spread across Asia and Europe and can occasionally infect humans, appeared in Canada for the first time in six years when it was detected in Newfoundland in December 2021. Earl Brown, an influenza virologist at the University of Ottawa, said at the time that it was possible an infected waterfowl had been thrown into the North Atlantic off Newfoundland. Since then, further cases have been identified in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Quebec and Saskatchewan. “This particular strain, the H5N1 virus, causes increased mortality in many of our wild bird species, and when it enters poultry flocks, it also causes increased mortality,” Burns said.

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency, or CFIA, said it believes migratory birds are responsible for outbreaks in small and commercial poultry flocks. The agency’s latest available figures show there were 203 infected flocks across the country, affecting 3,632,000 birds, as of November 3. It also reported 1,442 confirmed cases of bird flu in wild birds across Canada, but Burns said the number is likely much higher because it is impossible to determine how many wild animals have died. “To detect (bird flu) in a wild bird, you first have to find the carcass, then the carcass is submitted to the laboratory and then tested. So we imagine there are a lot of birds that might be dying that we’re not able to detect.”

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Ray Nickel, spokesman for the BC Poultry Association Emergency Operations Centre, said farmers are now concerned the virus is becoming endemic in wild bird populations. Avian flu is spread through contact with an infected bird or its droppings or nasal secretions. Farm birds that go outside are most at risk because they can come into direct contact with infected wild birds or their droppings. People can also inadvertently carry the contamination into a barn with their shoes or clothing. Nickel said the scale of the H5N1 spread had an advantage — it prompted more coordination between farmers, the CFIA and various levels of government. “(Communication) is much bigger this year than ever before,” he said. “The discussions are now happening on a national and international basis, and not just on an individual provincial basis.”

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Nickel, a commercial poultry farmer in Abbotsford and a member of the BC Chicken Marketing Board, said BC has not suffered a huge loss compared to other provinces and past seasons. The 2004 outbreak in the Fraser Valley, for example, involved the H7N3 strain, which spread to 42 commercial farms and 11 backyard chicken coops, prompting federal officials to order the mass culling of some 17 million birds. CFIA statistics show 28 flocks in BC, with 275,700 birds, have been infected with bird flu this year. “We’ve evolved somewhat in our industry to pay attention to biosecurity and keep our farms as safe as possible,” Nickel said. “We also don’t see a lot of the historical issues that we used to be more concerned about (like) spreading from one infected farm to another. Now, it seems to happen more randomly.”

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Biosecurity and emergency management measures put in place after the 2004 outbreak helped control the spread of the virus in 2009 and 2014. Each outbreak allowed the province and its farmers to refine and improve its response, Nickel said. The poultry association has an emergency response team that operates using an incident command structure, similar to fire and police departments, allowing the team to respond quickly when flu is detected, he said. Protocols include strict procedures around locked gates, changing clothes and shoes, and monitoring entrances and exits. “The heightened level of concern about biosecurity, I think, has become even more acute, not just in B.C., but across the country,” Nickel said in an interview.

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However, he warns that the demands and demands of the emergency response team creates burnout among members. “We are getting tired. It’s tiring to be on all the time,” Nickel said. “We have to rethink how we manage it in the future.” Canada currently has a “culling policy,” meaning birds are euthanized when the virus is detected in a flock, Burns explained. “There are really two reasons: the birds are really sick and there is no viable treatment to prevent the spread,” he said. But experts around the world are debating whether a bird flu vaccine would be a viable solution. “Given the unprecedented nature of this outbreak, vaccination is certainly being reconsidered as a potential control strategy internationally,” Burns said.

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“There are no licensed vaccines in Canada right now for poultry and that’s because until now, eradication has been our best course of action, (but) the CFIA is working with international partners to continue this vaccination conversation.” Considerations about whether a vaccine would work include the method of administration, cost and the risk of vaccinated birds spreading the virus undetected. “So there are some real challenges with vaccination and we need to really understand them before we can determine if it’s a viable strategy and the CFIA would, of course, make those decisions,” he said. The CFIA said no human cases have been identified in Canada and the disease is not considered a major health concern for healthy people who do not regularly come into contact with infected birds.

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