The earlier-than-expected surge in highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) cases across both Europe and North America this fall has raised concerns about the winter ahead. Early-season detections and disease pressure continues to mount as migratory birds move south. Canada has also reported new cases this fall, with British Columbia again facing the largest concentration of outbreaks.
Agencies urge long-term planning
Heightened activity comes at a time when global animal health authorities are urging countries to expand their preparedness strategies. In its State of the World’s Animal Health 2025 report, published in May, the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) warned that HPAI has become an entrenched global threat requiring long-term management rather than short-term emergency response.
The organisation encourages its member countries to consider vaccination as part of a broader control strategy that includes surveillance, biosecurity and movement controls. WOAH’s experts note that vaccination, when supported by strong post-vaccination monitoring, can reduce clinical disease, decrease virus shedding and lower the scale of culling during outbreaks.
France introduced a national vaccination campaign in 2023 targeting ducks, the species most heavily affected by repeated epidemics. Boehringer-Ingelheim, one of the suppliers for France’s programme, says the strategy was built on four pillars: a clearly defined vaccination plan, licensed vaccines, surveillance requirements and traceability systems. These elements formed the basis of the French rollout, which now involves vaccinating an estimated 60 million ducks annually. According to the company, the approach helped stabilize production after years of severe losses.
In March, the Netherlands launched a pilot program on a laying-hen farm to evaluate bird flu vaccination for potential large-scale application.
A Canadian context
The European experience is not directly applicable to Canada, which has a different sector structure and disease pattern. Canada’s most vulnerable flocks are turkey and ducks, and the density of multi-species production regions is lower than in western France. Still, developments in Europe have prompted Canadian regulators to gather more data on how vaccination could work under domestic conditions.
Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt of Université de Montréal says the international picture makes clear that strategies must be tailored to local epidemiology – and it certainly doesn’t involve vaccinating every bird.
France chose ducks because they accounted for the most outbreaks, but Canada has never experienced similar scale. “In France, they had over 1,000 outbreaks one year,” he said. “We have never seen that in Canada.”
He notes that British Columbia continues to experience the highest burden of cases, driven partly by regional species composition and landscape features.
Canada’s official position remains cautious. In a written statement, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said it has established a national task force that brings together veterinarians, academics, industry representatives and federal departments to examine the potential role of vaccination.
“The task force is examining the potential use of vaccination against HPAI, in certain circumstances, as part of the disease response in Canada,” CFIA’s statement to Canadian Poultry magazine says.
The agency is working towards a confined field trial to evaluate the logistics and effectiveness of administering an HPAI vaccine on poultry farms. The results will be used to inform how a national vaccination strategy could be rolled out. CFIA emphasized, however, that no formal decision on Canada’s vaccine strategy has been made. Strong biosecurity continues to be the country’s first line of defence.
CFIA has licensed three vaccines for restricted government use, which may be applied during the field trial. Although details on the products have not been released, the trial will focus on turkeys and will include defined surveillance and movement controls.
Vaillancourt says the agency previously conducted an economic assessment in British Columbia to determine whether vaccination would financially benefit producers.
The analysis suggested that costs associated with vaccination and surveillance would be roughly equivalent to current losses.
“It came out as neutral,” he said, noting that officials still regarded the trial as worthwhile to better understand practical challenges.
Canadian innovation: new vaccine technologies
Alongside regulatory evaluation, Canadian researchers are advancing new vaccine technologies. At the University of Guelph, Dr. Shayan Sharif is leading a project to develop an mRNA-based vaccine that could be delivered in ovo or through mucosal routes such as spray or drinking water. Sharif says his team aims to generate both disease protection and a reduction in infection.
“What we want to do is to have something that is sort of harmonised with other vaccines that are delivered either in-ovo before the chick is hatched or through mucosal surfaces,” he explained.
The research is progressing through controlled laboratory work using low-pathogenicity strains as a preliminary model. Sharif says the challenge is not in producing mRNA but in effectively targeting it to the respiratory and gastrointestinal systems.
His lab has extensive experience with in-ovo and mucosal vaccination platforms, which he says provides an early advantage. His team is collaborating with CFIA’s Winnipeg laboratory to assess immunogenicity and protection in experimental settings.
“Timeline wise, we are probably looking at next, I would say year and a half to two years before we have anything that we can share,” he said.
Funding partners include the OMAFA, the Canadian Poultry Research Council and the Saskatchewan Chicken Industry.
Industry readiness and regulatory considerations
While industry interest in vaccination grows, it has been tempered by practical considerations. Boehringer-Ingelheim told Canadian Poultry magazine that the scientific characteristics of its HPAI vaccines would allow for deployment in a range of species, including turkeys, if regulators approved their use.
However, the company said that specific assessments of Canadian regulatory needs must come from CFIA. Thomas Delquigny, technical manager, Boehringer-Ingelheim, emphasized lessons from Europe, saying that coordinated implementation and clear surveillance rules have been essential to maintaining confidence in vaccinated supply chains.
“It needs everybody to be aligned and really going in the same direction,” Delquigny said.
For now, CFIA’s trial will help determine how vaccination could function in selected regions. Vaillancourt says the outcome should inform discussions in areas with recurring disease pressure, particularly British Columbia. He adds that any future plan would need to address on-farm logistics, surveillance capacity, potential changes to regional farm density and funding mechanisms. He does not expect a national vaccination program in the near future.
“So far, what I see in Canada does not justify a national vaccination programme coast to coast,” he says.
International evidence shows that vaccination can help stabilise high-risk sectors when paired with strong oversight. In Canada, vaccination remains under evaluation, with regulators, researchers and industry watching closely for new data. As Vaillancourt cautions, decisions must be grounded in local epidemiology and supported by the systems needed to monitor vaccinated flocks.
“Vaccination has to be limited to where it makes sense,” he says.
