Second B.C. farm reports avian flu By Greg Joyce, THE CANADIAN PRESS VANCOUVER, B.C. - An outbreak of avian flu has been detected on a second farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday. Sandra Stephens, veterinary program specialist with the agency, said testing confirmed the presence of an H5 virus on the second property. The latest outbreak in the southwestern corner of the province is located fairly close to the farm where H5N2 virus was detected last month in two barns. It's believed to be a low-pathogenicity virus, like the first one, said Stephens. But what may be alarming to commercial poultry producers in the Fraser Valley is the possibility that the latest outbreak may not be connected to the first. "Investigations to this point would indicate that we do not have any direct contact (between the latest property and the one last month) so it is quite likely that this is an independent introduction of a virus into the barn," said Stephens. The first outbreak was of an H5N2 virus. In the latest outbreak, the specific type of virus - or N number - has not yet been determined. The H5N2 virus is not related to the H5N1 avian flu virus that has decimated poultry flocks and resulted in human fatalities in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Eastern Europe. It is, however, the same type of virus that caused an avian flu outbreak in the Fraser Valley in late 2005. This second property has 12,000 breeder birds laying chicken eggs and officials say all will be destroyed. There are now 43 properties in the area under quarantine, including 10 new ones as a result of the new discovery. "The (most recent) flock was tested as part of a surveillance activity within three kilometres of the commercial poultry operation where low pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza was detected Jan. 24," Stephens said. "Tests to date indicate the strain of avian influenza on the new premises is also low pathogenic and similar to the original strain identified at the initial premise." The latest detection came from samples collected Jan. 31 along with followup samples taken Feb. 5. The new premise is "toward the outer limit of that initial three-kilometre radius drawn around the initial premise." Approximately 60,000 turkeys on the first affected farm were euthanized and they are being composted in the two barns at temperatures that should ensure any viruses are destroyed, the agency said. More than 62,000 poultry had to be destroyed when avian flu was found in the Fraser Valley in late 2005. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/02/11/8357311-cp.html
UPDATE: Second B.C. farm reports avian flu Bird flu quarantine on British Columbia farms ends The Associated Press -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- An avian influenza-related quarantine has been lifted on 22 poultry farms in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver. The restrictions were lifted after three weeks of surveillance and testing by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Avian flu outbreaks of a low-pathogenicity virus were traced to two poultry farms in January and February, and others nearby were also quarantined farms. About 60,000 turkeys on the first farm were euthanized and 12,000 breeder birds on the second farm were destroyed. The birds were composted on the farms at high temperatures to ensure any viruses were killed. The virus is less dangerous than the H5N1 avian flu virus that decimated poultry flocks and led to human deaths in Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Eastern Europe. http://www.poultryandeggnews.com/poultrytoday/news/20090327/231764.shtml
