A Second Outbreak of Bird Flu in Less Than a Month, Detected in Western Canada

A second outbreak of bird flu in less than a month has been detected on another poultry farm in Canada's westernmost British Columbia province, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday.

Like the first outbreak in late January, it is believed to be a strain of avian influenza with a low risk of spreading or "low pathogenicity," CFIA disease control specialist Sandra Stephens told a press conference.

The government agency quarantined 36 premises last month around an Abbotsford farm, about 70 kilometers (43 miles) southeast of Vancouver, and slaughtered some 60,000 birds at risk of infection.

On Wednesday, the quarantine zone was extended to include 10 new properties around the second farm in the same vicinity, and 12,000 more chickens are to be slaughtered by Thursday, said Stephens.

Three properties have also been removed from the first quarantine, she said.

The subtype of the two H5 viruses are still being determined in laboratory tests.

According to the World Health Organization some 250 people have died from bird flu worldwide since 2003, mostly in Asia.

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The H5N1 virus typically spreads from birds to humans through direct contact, but experts fear it could mutate into a form easily transmissible between humans, with the potential to kill millions in a pandemic.

Source-AFP
SPH