Canadian officials consider ‘pre-pandemic’ vaccines for H5N1 bird flu.

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As H5N1 bird flu spreads rapidly in pets and other animals across the US, Canadian officials are exploring “pre-pandemic” H5N1 vaccines as a precaution.

The highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N1) has not been found in any Canadian livestock and is considered to have a low risk of transmission to the public, but the recent rapid spread of the virus in livestock and elsewhere in the United States has public health officials worldwide on high alert.

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Health experts are urging people to avoid drinking raw, unpasteurized, milk and to make sure meat is well-cooked, but they say the real threat of bird flu is not from food, but because the virus can jump. From animals to humans. That could cause an influenza pandemic because humans are thought to be less immune to the virus.

Unlike the United States, Canada does not have a stockpile of H5N1 vaccines on hand, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). But there are agreements in place to get pandemic flu vaccines in place if needed, said PHAC spokesman Nicolas Janveau.

“PHAC maintains agreements to ensure timely access to pandemic influenza vaccines for all Canadians in the event of an influenza pandemic,” he said.

Those agreements should protect against vaccine bans, border closures and travel and shipping delays — “as seen recently during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he said.

PHAC is currently monitoring the number of HIV infections that can be detected during an outbreak. The ability to do so is part of an agreement with the main supplier of pandemic influenza vaccines that is part of Canada’s pandemic influenza preparedness plan.

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In addition, HIV

Janvo ​​said there are stockpiles of antiviral drugs held by federal and state and local governments for use during influenza outbreaks. Antivirals are drugs that fight viruses in your body.

In recent days, US health officials have reported outbreaks of H5N1 avian influenza in at least 33 dairy herds, as well as poultry and wild birds. A dairy worker has been infected and barn cats have been reported sick and dying.

Residues of the H5N1 bird flu virus have been found in 20 percent of retail milk samples in the United States, raising concerns that the outbreak may be more widespread than previously believed. The fragments of the virus were not live and did not pose any danger, officials said, but they suggested that more cows were infected than reported, raising the risk of mutations that could allow the virus to successfully jump to humans.

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This is the type of situation that epidemiologists have studied for a long time, says Raywat Denandan, an epidemiologist and professor at the University of Ottawa.

“We all learned about this in epidemiology school,” he said. “For 20 years, flu watchers like me have been warning about bird flu jumping (to people).

But despite spreading for decades, this avian flu virus didn’t make the jump to humans to allow human-to-human spread, Deonandan said. From the currently circulating HIV Human cases are mainly caused by close contact with infected birds or animals.

Deonandan also pointed out that governments are preparing for the possibility of an influenza pandemic, even if it doesn’t happen. Some of the lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic should improve responses to future outbreaks, he said.

“There is a lot of good news here.”

Seasonal influenza vaccines are produced each year in Canada and other places where flu strains may circulate the following fall and winter. It takes at least six months to produce a high-dose flu vaccine, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.

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PHAC said it continues to “assess the risks of H5N1” and is in the process of switching vaccine production from seasonal influenza vaccine to pandemic influenza vaccine.

In addition, influenza activity and HIV infection in humans.

“Continued surveillance and preparedness are critical as influenza viruses constantly change and the possibility of changes in animal populations leading to adaptation in mammals increases,” Janveau said.

In a review released Friday, the World Health Organization said human-to-human transmission is currently impossible without further genetic changes in the virus, but called on countries to step up surveillance because viruses are constantly evolving.

“As these viruses are constantly evolving and spreading in animal populations, and the risk of exposure to humans is increasing, the risks need to be reassessed as the situation improves and more information becomes available.”

Meanwhile, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it is not testing raw, unpasteurized milk because the virus has not been found in Canadian cattle.

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“HPAI (Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza) is not a food safety concern as pasteurization is essential to the sale of Canadian cow’s milk. This process preserves the nutritional properties of milk and kills harmful bacteria and viruses, which ensures that our milk products are safe to consume,” CFIA said in a statement.

For his part, H5N1 has pandemic potential, Deonandan said, “but most things have pandemic potential.” Unlike Covid-19, he pointed out that vaccines are likely to be available, although there may be high demand for them, leaving an equity gap for poor countries. Antiviral drugs are also readily available.

However, he said it can be hard on the elderly and children, which could lead to school closures or start arguments. Babies under six months old are not eligible for vaccination.

He said people should take precautions such as avoiding raw milk, cooking their food well and avoiding dead birds and other wild animals. And Canada should start producing vaccines now, he said.

“Better to have it and not to have it.”

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