BIRD FLU ARRIVES IN CANADA
Bird flu fears close second P.E.I. farm
Jun. 18, 2006. 08:12 PM
CANADIAN PRESS
A second Prince Edward Island farm has been placed under a quarantine order as a precautionary measure as authorities investigate the finding of an H5 avian flu virus in a domestic goose in that province.
An official of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the move was taken when investigators learned there was traffic of people and perhaps poultry between the two farms, which both had free-range backyard flocks.
Ottawa-based Dr. Jim Clark said no birds from the second farm have displayed signs of illness and for the time being, authorities have not ordered their destruction.
Clark, who is the national manager of CFIA's avian influenza working group, said a post-mortem examination of the goose that tested positive for the H5 virus did not reveal what killed the bird.
The bird was one of four geese in a mixed flock that died last Monday. Chickens in the same flock did not die, leading investigators to believe the virus was not highly pathogenic.
The Asian H5N1 virus that has infected at least 227 people over the past 2-1/2 years — killing 129 of them — is a highly pathogenic virus.
The CFIA's National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases in Winnipeg is working to confirm that the virus is actually an H5 and to further categorize it to determine whether it is the Asian H5N1 virus.
Clark said the lab may have some answers by late Tuesday or Wednesday, but it will take about another week to determine the subtype of the neuraminidase — the N in a flu virus's name.
Jun. 18, 2006. 08:12 PM
CANADIAN PRESS
A second Prince Edward Island farm has been placed under a quarantine order as a precautionary measure as authorities investigate the finding of an H5 avian flu virus in a domestic goose in that province.
An official of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said the move was taken when investigators learned there was traffic of people and perhaps poultry between the two farms, which both had free-range backyard flocks.
Ottawa-based Dr. Jim Clark said no birds from the second farm have displayed signs of illness and for the time being, authorities have not ordered their destruction.
Clark, who is the national manager of CFIA's avian influenza working group, said a post-mortem examination of the goose that tested positive for the H5 virus did not reveal what killed the bird.
The bird was one of four geese in a mixed flock that died last Monday. Chickens in the same flock did not die, leading investigators to believe the virus was not highly pathogenic.
The Asian H5N1 virus that has infected at least 227 people over the past 2-1/2 years — killing 129 of them — is a highly pathogenic virus.
The CFIA's National Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases in Winnipeg is working to confirm that the virus is actually an H5 and to further categorize it to determine whether it is the Asian H5N1 virus.
Clark said the lab may have some answers by late Tuesday or Wednesday, but it will take about another week to determine the subtype of the neuraminidase — the N in a flu virus's name.
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