Canadian scientists launch early warning system to spot traces of H5N1 bird flu in milk – CBC

Pan-Canadian Milk Network hopes to conduct ongoing tests alongside government surveillance

May 30, 2024

It all started with a few text messages in late April.

Several well-known Canadian scientists — Toronto-based infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch, Saskatoon-based virologist Angela Rasmussen and Winnipeg-based microbiologist Jason Kindrachuk — were all chatting about the unprecedented outbreak of H5N1 bird flu in U.S. dairy cows.

By then, American officials had tracked cow cases for roughly a month, and harmless viral particles were showing up in processed, pasteurized milk.

But on this side of the border, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) was clear its team wasn’t yet undertaking milk testing.

The trio of Canadian academic researchers saw a missed opportunity.

“I think we all were thinking independently: Why aren’t we doing milk testing?” recalled Kindrachuk, an associate professor at the University of Manitoba. “If we can simply get milk off the shelves and [run tests], this would seem like a great initiative for us to undertake.”

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/h5n1-bird-flu-early-warning-system-1.7218486