July 1, 2024

No hint of H5N1 infections in Canadian cows as country's labs starts testing milk sample

Labs in Canada have begun testing milk samples for the H5N1 avian influenza strain that has been spreading through US dairy cows amid fears that the infection might spread to Canadian herds.

So far, there have been no indications of infections in dairy cows, but the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is testing milk while a group of scientists from across the country are also conducting routine testing on retail milk samples.

"We hope that by testing Canadian milk regularly from across the country over time, we are able to identify any outbreaks as quickly as possible if they were to happen here," said Dr. Hannah Wallace, PhD, a postdoctoral research scientist in the department of Medical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.

As of the last update on June 14, the scientists had evaluated 72 retail milk samples from every Canadian province. All returned negative results for H5N1.

The testing complements the Canadian government’s coordinated testing between the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, which is testing both cows and milk samples for H5N1.

Any dairy cattle imported from the United States to Canada must also be tested and confirmed negative for the virus before coming to Canada.

"CFIA has the ability to test large numbers of samples in one batch while we are aiming to test fewer samples but on an ongoing basis," said Dr. Wallace. "It's imperative that academic and government partners work together on infectious disease outbreaks and if we were to detect any positive samples in the future, our first call will be to CFIA."

According to recent statistics, there are over 1.3 million dairy cattle in Canada spread across 9,443 farms.

- Forbes