Canada quarantines second poultry flock for bird flu

WINNIPEG, Manitoba - Canada is investigating a second backyard poultry flock for bird flu, although all birds remain healthy, authorities said today.

"A quarantine has been instituted at that premise and it's because there's been contact either with live birds or through foot traffic and potential contamination with the original infected farm," said Canadian Food Inspection Agency veterinarian Jim Clark.

The CFIA announced on the weekend it had detected a case of H5 avian flu in a gosling from a backyard poultry flock after four goslings died, in the eastern province of Prince Edward Island.

Test results are expected tomorrow, to confirm if the virus is a North American or Asian strain. If there is enough virus present, the CFIA will be able to determine whether it is a high or low pathogen strain.

"There's no direct evidence that the influenza virus was the cause of the problem in the four birds that died," Clark added.

All birds on the second farm, adjacent to the original farm, remain healthy and the CFIA has taken some swab samples to determine if the virus exists on that farm.

The non-commercial flock of 35 to 40 ducks, geese and chickens on the original farm were euthanised by the CFIA on Saturday.

Clark said he was not aware of any human illness linked to the virus.

The CFIA has said there is no evidence the case involves the high-pathogen H5N1 strain that has spread to 48 countries since 2003. H5N1 has not been discovered in the Americas.

- REUTERS