Canada slowest to report avian flu samples to global database, UBC researchers find [Video]

Two University of B.C. researchers have found that Canada is the slowest country at reporting H5N1 avian flu data to a global genome database, which they say could have implications as scientists track the mutations of the rapidly spreading virus.

But the agency leading the country’s response to the outbreak says that sample collection in a country the size of Canada is more time-consuming, and characteristics that provide new insight into the virus are usually reported within days.

In an article in Nature Biotechnology on Tuesday, Sarah Otto, a professor, and Sean Edgerton, a PhD student, both with UBC’s zoology school, showed the global average for countries reporting avian flu samples to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) was around 228 days for countries reporting at least 50 genetic sequences.

While some countries like the Czech Republic and the Netherlands reported data within a month, Canada was the slowest at 618 days on …