Avian flu | An “unprecedented pandemic” hits Canada

A second wave of avian flu — an unprecedented pandemic — has been sweeping across Canada since the beginning of the year. In Quebec, two farms are currently infected and another is under investigation.

Emilie Bilodeau
The Press

The presence of H5N1 was detected in a barnyard near Napierville in Montérégie on October 7th. Another poultry farm will be added to the active cases identified by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in the coming hours, according to our information. However, it was impossible to know in which region of Quebec this infected establishment was located.

“It’s very worrying,” says Martin Pelletier, director general of the Quebec Poultry Disease Control Team (EQCMA). “This strain of avian influenza is very virulent and it spreads very quickly. We see it on a global scale and even on a national scale. This is the first time we have seen an outbreak of such magnitude in Canada. »

Canada has indeed experienced two episodes of avian flu, in 2004 in British Columbia and in 2015 in Ontario. A few isolated cases have also been identified in the meantime. But since the beginning of the year, the virus has hit the country from coast to coast: 78 places have been infected and more than three million birds have had to be culled. No province has been spared.

In Quebec, the very first case of avian influenza was detected last April. A total of 13 places, including 12 farms, were affected and 300,000 animals had to be killed.

Avian influenza is mainly carried by migrating birds that pass through Canada in the spring and fall. They excrete the virus in their droppings or their nasal secretions, when they are in flight or when they stop, explains Mr. Pelletier, of the EQCMA.

“Birds from small flocks are often reared outdoors. They are therefore more likely to tread on or peck contaminated droppings. Quota birds are bred indoors. It is then the producer, the employees or the visitors who can bring the virus into the building if they have walked on contaminated droppings,” indicates Mr. Pelletier, specifying however that anyone must change shoes or wear covers. -shoes before entering a building housing poultry.

Quarantine measures

Avian influenza is a reportable disease. A producer who detects an infected bird must notify the CFIA. His poultry are then killed to prevent the highly pathogenic virus from spreading to neighboring farms.

Quarantine measures are also put in place by the CFIA within a perimeter of up to 10 km around the infected farm. Producers in this perimeter must obtain a permit to move their animals to the slaughterhouse and visitors such as propane or food deliverers must wash the wheels of their vehicles when leaving what is called the primary control area. .

“If we let the virus [circuler dans une ferme contaminée], we would end up with some 10,000 sick birds that would excrete billions of viral particles. We would end up with a spectacular site of contamination “which could experience a mortality rate of 100%, explains Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, veterinarian and professor at the University of Montreal.

The H5N1 expert also raises an animal welfare issue. “It’s not a nice death. The virus causes hemorrhages in the tissues and the lungs fill with blood,” he points out. The professor also specifies that the risks of transmission from birds to humans are very low.

“In the West, it’s quite catastrophic”

At the CFIA, the D^D Manon Racicot speaks without hesitation of an “unprecedented pandemic”. “We had never seen so many infected wild birds. There are more deaths among migrating birds, but also among resident wild birds. »

After the wave of H5N1 in the spring, a second swept over the west of the country: 13 places were infected in British Columbia and 26 in Alberta.

“The cases in the West have resumed in a meteoric way, notes the veterinarian-epidemiologist. In the East, as in Quebec, we do not yet see so many migratory birds. Is the worst yet to come here? I don’t know, it’s hard to predict. But what is happening in the West right now is quite catastrophic. »

The CFIA is closely monitoring France and the Netherlands, which have decided to experiment with a vaccine on certain poultry. Canada is not ruling out the idea of ​​also using vaccination to stem the pandemic.

“We cannot continue to depopulate like that, to intervene on each site. It’s getting hellish, “says the D^D Racicot.