Ottawa (Rural Roots Canada) – Farmers and agricultural workers in Ontario and Quebec are being invited to take part in a research study to better understand how avian influenza (H5N1), also known as bird flu, and other respiratory viruses spread between animals and humans.

Led by the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Medicine and the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, the research will examine immune response and potential virus transmission on farms, particularly among those in close contact with poultry, such as chicken farmers and egg producers.

“The situation is that we’re still seeing H5N1 pop up in poultry,” says Dr. Marc-André Langlois, Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Ottawa. “Contrary to our American counterparts, who have seen that the virus was transmitted to cows, we haven’t seen that in Canada. It remains almost exclusively in wild birds, poultry, ducks and geese.”

The study, which just received approval from the university’s research ethics board, is looking to recruit 100 workers. The goal of the study is twofold: first, to understand how respiratory viruses like H5N1 may be transmitted between animals and people, even in individuals who show no symptoms; and second, to evaluate levels of immune protection that may exist or develop over time in people exposed to the virus.

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“Given that H5N1 has been circulating for decades, and there have been hundreds of farms that have been hit by the infection, our question is, how many workers have been exposed to this virus?” he explains. “Are there asymptomatic infections going on in farms where individuals might be exposed to the virus and not manifest any disease symptoms? Our study is there to assess what percentage of these poultry workers who have been exposed in the past. What are their antibody levels? Do these antibodies protect them from H5N1? And also to be able to better understand how the immune system responds to the virus.”

Farmers and ag workers who agree to take part will be asked to provide saliva and dried blood spot samples every two months over a 10-month period, all from the comfort of their farm. “When someone decides to be part of our study, we’re going to be doing five samplings of blood and saliva, and this can be done at home,” says Langlois. “The blood samples are there to be able to detect prior exposure to the virus, while the saliva is for detecting active infections.”

Along with bird flu, the samples will also be used to detect signs of current and past infections of viruses like influenza A, RSV, and COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2).

Participation is voluntary, and the process has been designed to be simple and minimally disruptive. Sample kits will be delivered and returned by mail using pre-paid postage. Those who do participate will receive gift cards from local restaurant chains.

Langlois emphasizes that this is an academic study, not a regulatory program. All information and data will be kept confidential. “The samples are anonymized so we won’t know the names of the individuals,” he says. “It’s not meant as a regulatory assessment. It’s not meant to systematically screen for the H5N1 virus, but to understand the virus itself.” However, he notes, “Under federal regulation, if we do pick up an H5N1 case, it’s our legal obligation to report it.” Any active bird flu infections identified through testing will be reported to the Public Health Agency of Canada.

While outbreaks in the U.S. have seen the H5N1 virus infecting nearly 1,000 dairy farms, Canada’s situation has been more stable. “Right now, the situation is much more stable, and we don’t see this uptick that we saw so dramatically last year,” says Laglois. While the risk to the general public remains low, he cautions that most humans have never been exposed to H5N1, “so, if there’s a strain that adapts to humans, very few of us will have prior immunity to protect us.”

“This is actually the right moment to exercise prevention and to study a virus,” he adds. “Because it gives us time to figure out the best way forward, if ever we are to see sustained human-to-human transmission.”

If you’re interested in taking part of learning more, you can visit the study website.