Health

Bird flu confirmed in western Canada

by ChrisiMarr | January 26, 2009 at 02:11 am

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A strain of the bird flu virus has been detected on a poultry farm in the western Canadian province of British Columbia, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) said Saturday.

The CFIA confirmed "the presence of H5 avian influenza (AI) virus" in the farm located in Fraser Valley of British Columbia province, where avian flu has been discovered in recent years.

Further testing is underway to assess the precise strain of the virus, but preliminary tests indicated that it was low pathogenic, the CFIA was quoted by Xinhua news agency as saying.

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Paschen

at 02:15 on January 26th, 2009

That would be the Third time in the past two years alone that Bird flue has been confirmed in BC.

Please do tag this Farming as well as H5N1.

Thank you for the Post.

Terri Potratz

at 12:16 on January 26th, 2009

I have updated the tags on this story, and also created a Bird Flu feature channel where new developments can be tracked.

The latest update is that 60,000 birds from the Abbotsford farm will be slaughtered today:

On Sunday, CFIA officials were preparing to euthanize the birds by sealing the barns and flooding them with carbon dioxide. Workers will then mix the carcasses with organic material in the barn to raise the temperature as high as 50 C during decomposition.

"That heating process is what inactivates the virus," Sandra Stephens, a CFIA veterinary program specialist, told the Canadian Press in an interview.

Once the birds are euthanized and disposed of, CFIA will oversee the cleaning and disinfection of the farm's barns, vehicles and equipment.

23 additional farms in nearby areas are under quarantine.

Mendosa

at 10:43 on January 27th, 2009

These tukeys are raised as show birds, and as I recall they are a rare breed of turkey. This farm is a long way from the flu affected farm, on an island off the shores of Vancouver, and has remained free from any virus at this point. It is a shame what is happening to the famrs in the Fraser Valley and the poultry industry in B.C.

Mendosa has contributed a photo to this story.