Bird Flu in Canada

[Texan]

B.C. farm quarantined after bird flu found

Last updated Nov 18 2005 06:12 PM PST

CBC News Canada



Scientists have uncovered a case of Avian Flu in a duck on a farm near Abbotsford in the Fraser Valley.

Government officials say there is virtually no risk to the public health, but they are recommending the family on the farm get vaccinated. And the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has quarantined the farm as a precaution.

The director of animal health for the CFIA says it's not surprising to find the virus in a domestic duck flock, because the birds are known carriers.

The rest of the flock were healthy and showed no signs of disease, says Dr. Jim Clark.

"We are prepared to quarantine all commercial poultry operations that are within five kilometres of this particular premises, " he adds.

"We will be doing sampling in the farms, to determine whether there's any evidence of the virus we're currently characterizing is present in other locations."

While Clark confirmed the virus detected is the H5 strain, it will take another two days of tests to determine whether it is the same type that has infected humans in Asia. The duck will be sent to the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg for further testing.

An outbreak of avian flu in 2004 hit farms in a 70-kilometre-wide area from the Vancouver's eastern suburbs to Chilliwack in the eastern Fraser Valley, forcing the slaughter of 17 million birds.

In the end, about three million birds were found to be diseased and the rest were allowed to be sold to consumers.



cbc.ca

 

[CattleAnnie]

Oh Goody.

Just what agriculture in Canada needs....another kick in the pants. Almost makes you hate to ask, "What next?"





Take care.

 

[frenchie]

Heard last night that all the birds will likely be killed as a precaution

 

[Beefy]

i guess we better eat more cows. .. :idea:

 

[frenchie]

Avian flu found on B.C. farm not Asian strain
CTV.ca News Staff

The H5 strain of the avian flu that is forcing the culling of tens of thousands of birds at one B.C. farm is not the virulent Asian form, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Sunday.

The CFIA says the infection at the Chilliwack duck and goose farm is different from the lethal strain circulating among birds in Asia, The Canadian Press reports.

"We do not know the subtype yet as to whether it's an N1 (strain) or something else but officials are saying this is a low pathogenic strain of the virus, which is reassuring to them," CTV's Todd Battis reported from Abbotsford, B.C., where a news conference was held on Sunday.

Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian with the federal agency told reporters the virus found in the commercial duck is a low-pathogenic North American strain.

Though the news is reassuring and there is no immediate risk to domestic birds, the virus could change, and for that reason, a cull of the more than 55,000 ducks and geese on the farm will proceed.

Officials believe the domestic duck may have become infected with the strain after coming in contact with a wild bird, Battis reported.

It's not yet confirmed whether the four poultry farms within a five-kilometre radius of the first farm will face cull orders in the next few days.

"Obviously we're very sad about that. And it's going to be hard but again, as a poultry industry, we've decided to be proactive and if that's what has to happen, that's what we're going to do," said operator Ken Faulk.

His commercial poultry farm in B.C.'s Fraser Valley, where the duck originated, remains under quarantine.

Faulk had to rebound from losing his entire flock at another farm in 2004, part of a cull of 17 million birds in the Fraser Valley when an H7N3 strain of bird flu was found. Two farm hands became mildly ill as a result.

In the end, tests found about three million birds to be diseased and the rest were allowed to be sold to consumers.

Meanwhile, wild birds in Manitoba have tested positive for a low-pathogenic subtype of the H5N1 avian flu virus, CFIA officials announced Saturday.

However, the strains are from the family of North American H5N1 viruses, not the forms circulating in Southeast Asia.

Officials also confirmed that two birds in British Columbia carried H5N9 viruses and five carried H5N2. Two birds in Quebec carried H5N3 viruses. All were "low-path" viruses, meaning they aren't very dangerous to waterfowl and other bird.

The viruses were isolated as part of a cross-country surveillance program to find what avian flu viruses are being carried by wild ducks in Canada.

The results came more than two weeks after officials first announced that birds in British Columbia, Quebec, and Manitoba were found to be carrying avian flu strains.

Officials were also quick to warn that because the strains are considered low pathogenic, they are not viewed as a threat to public health.

With a report from CTV's Todd Battis