Enhanced tracking of the circulation of and risk from highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses at the human-wildlife interface

Highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses have been circulating continuously in North America since 2022. Beyond infecting birds, these viruses have also infected many different species of wild and domestic mammals. Indigenous groups, people that practise subsistence harvesting and income hunting, as well as federal and provincial staff and researchers are at the frontline of interactions with wildlife. This human-wildlife interface is a crucial area to study the circulation of these viruses and represents a key component of the One Health approach needed to tackle the current avian influenza situation. We need to know which strains of virus are present, how the viruses are changing, and which of the many species humans are interacting with are being infected and at what frequency. Our proposed research encompasses partnerships with Indigenous groups and federal and provincial government agencies to screen birds, seals, and terrestrial mammals (e.g., fox, mink, polar bear) for the presence of active infection and evidence of previous infection by avian influenza virus. We are targeting species selected by Indigenous groups as important to their activities to empower their decision making on practices and harvests. Similarly, testing of animals associated with non-Indigenous animal harvests (e.g., trapping of fur-bearing mammals) and government research programs will inform those groups and individuals about what is happening in the animals they directly interact with. Our samples and data will also feed into larger national programs aimed at studying the biology of these viruses, the state of wildlife health, and human risk.