Over the past few years, while H5N1 has dominated highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) cases in North America, there’s a noticeable uptick in positive detections of the H5N5 avian influenza strain.
The World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) announced on April 12th that two raccoons in Canada tested positive for the H5N5 variant. National laboratories conducted these tests, with one raccoon found in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and the other in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.
While there haven’t been confirmed cases of H5N5 in commercial poultry in Canada or the United States, past incidents in eastern Canada involving other bird and mammal species have been documented. Recently, in Charlottetown, four raccoons, one striped skunk, and a red fox in Halifax tested positive for the virus.
Additionally, numerous wild bird species in Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador, including American crows and great black-backed gulls, tested positive for H5N5 HPAI between February 2023 and January 2024.
Regarding international poultry trade, WOAH states that since the H5N5 cases didn’t affect commercial poultry, there should be no impact.
Furthermore, another HPAI serotype, H5N6, has surfaced in Canada. The first detection of this variant was confirmed in late 2022 in a blue-winged teal in Manitoba. Since then, various bird species across different Canadian regions, such as a great horned owl in Alberta and a common goldeneye in Saskatchewan, have tested positive for this strain.
