Virtual Webinar, January 12, 2024
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeLvI67ci8M
This informative webinar – as led by Dr. Samira Mubareka (Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre) and Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos (Western University) – provided over 140 participants with a scientific update on HPAI with a focus on viral biology and pandemic preparedness.
Session Overview
Continental and intercontinental waves of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAI) in wild birds and domestic poultry have been punctuated by viral reassortment and spillover into mammalians. This global change in HPAI epidemiology has been associated with a hemagglutinin (HA) sub-clade, 2.3.4.4b. Recent evidence of increasing mammalian infections, and evidence of transmission among mammals (Agüero et al., 2023, Kobasa et al. 2023) and this has raised the concern of pandemic risk as the virus continues to also acquire mammalian adaptations associated with enhanced pathogenesis. Whilst transmission among mammals has not been well-established, outbreaks on mink farms in Spain and large die-offs of marine mammals (sea lions) with reassorted and mammalian-adapted viruses raise the possibility.
Learning Objectives:
- Enhance current knowledge on interactions between HPAI and host factors mediating its pathogenesis
- Advance understanding of HPAI transmission risk and implications for human and animal health
- Support progress in the development of vaccines against HPAI
Moderators:
Dr. Samira Mubareka, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Dr. Jimmy Dikeakos, Western University
Speakers:
Setting the Stage:
Dr. Damien Joly, Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative
HPAI Virus-Host Interaction:
Dr. Stacey Schultz-Cherry, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Mammalian Spillover and Joint Risk Assessment of Panzootic H5Nx Viruses in Canada:
Dr. Bryce Warner, Public Health Agency of Canada
HPAI Vaccines:
Dr. Matthew Miller, McMaster University
Sponsors
Many thanks to CIHR for supporting this knowledge transfer event.
