Bird flu’s momentum in Canada worries experts: ‘Potential to become a pandemic’

The bird flu is spreading across Canada, leaving some experts worried about its potential to become more transmissible among humans, and potentially sparking another pandemic.

Bird flu, or avian flu, continues to spread across Canada, leaving some experts worried about its potential to become more transmissible among humans, and potentially sparking another pandemic.

The current outbreak circulating North and South America is known as H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b. It has killed record numbers of birds and infected mammals.

Although human cases remain rare, Shayan Sharif, a professor and associate dean with the Ontario Veterinary College at the University of Guelph, warned the virus is “gathering momentum” and becoming more of a human threat.

“Various pieces of the puzzle are coming together for this virus to become transmissible among humans,” he told Global News. “And this particular virus has the potential to become a pandemic virus, and if it does, then we have to be absolutely ready because the fatality rate of this virus could be far greater than what we saw for COVID-19.”

The key to helping stop this virus from spreading into something more dangerous is making sure the virus does not have a chance to adapt so it cannot transmit to people in the first place, said Matthew Miller, director of DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research at McMaster University.

While he didn’t mention the possibility of a pandemic specifically, Miller warned there’s an urgency in making sure health officials act proactively to ensure the virus does not mutate and adapt.

This strain of bird flu first showed up in Canada in December 2021. Since then, Sharif said it has gone through “three waves.” The first was at the beginning of March 2022, the second around August last year and he said Canada is currently in the third wave, adding “we aren’t in the height of the wave, but only the very beginning.”

Data compiled by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, shows there are 1,829 confirmed and suspected cases of bird flu in animals overall in Canada as of Friday. The majority of cases are in Quebec (367), Alberta (268) and Saskatchewan (243).