OIE: Highly pathogenic avian influenza ,Canada

Information received on 01/05/2015 from Dr Martine Dubuc, OIE Delegate for Canada, Chief Food Safety Officer Vice-President, Science Branch, Health Ministry, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Ottawa, Canada

Summary

Report type	Immediate notification
Date of start of the event	06/02/2015
Date of confirmation of the event	13/04/2015
Report date	01/05/2015
Date submitted to OIE	01/05/2015
Reason for notification	New strain of a listed disease
Manifestation of disease	Sub-clinical infection
Causal agent	Highly pathogenic avian influenza virus
Serotype	H5N8
Nature of diagnosis	Laboratory (advanced)
This event pertains to	a defined zone within the country

New outbreaks

Summary of outbreaks

Total outbreaks: 1

Outbreak Location

BRITISH COLUMBIA ( Abbotsford )

Total animals affected

Species	Susceptible	Cases	Deaths	Destroyed	Slaughtered
American wigeon:Anatidae (Anas americana)		1

Outbreak statistics

Species	Apparent morbidity rate	Apparent mortality rate	Apparent case fatality rate	Proportion susceptible animals lost*
American wigeon:Anatidae (Anas americana)	**	**	**	**

* Removed from the susceptible population through death, destruction and/or slaughter;
** Not calculated because of missing information;

Epidemiology

Source of the outbreak(s) or origin of infection

Contact with wild species

Epidemiological comments

Canada conducts surveillance for avian influenza in wild birds. In addition, enhanced surveillance was undertaken in wild birds in response to the event in poultry (H5N2) in the province of British Columbia (BC) in December 2014. This sample was collected in February 2015 as part of the enhanced surveillance undertaken by BC. The sample was received from the BC provincial laboratory by the Canadian Food inspection Agency (CFIA) National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease (NCFAD) on 25 March 2015 for further testing. The results confirmed HPAI H5N8 virus with an IVPI of 2.73.
Sequencing of the H5N8 virus isolated indicates it is a wholly Eurasian H5N8 and very similar to the H5N8 virus that was isolated from the gyrfalcon in Washington State in December 2014. This is the first report of a H5N8 HPAI virus detection in Canada. This virus has NOT been found in commercial poultry anywhere in Canada. In accordance with the Terrestrial Animal Health Code Article 10.4.1, Member Countries should not impose bans on the trade of poultry commodities in response to notification of influenza A virus in wild birds.

Control measures

Measures applied	Screening Vaccination prohibited No treatment of affected animals
Measures to be applied	No other measures

Diagnostic test results

Laboratory name and type

Animal Health Centre, British Columbia Ministry of Agriculture ( Local laboratory )

Tests and results

Species	Test	Test date	Result
American wigeon	real-time reverse transcriptase/polymerase chain reaction (RRT-PCR)	09/02/2015	Positive

Laboratory name and type

National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease, Canadian Food Inspection Agency ( National laboratory )

Tests and results

Species

Test

Test date