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Early tests suggests possible H5 avian influenza outbreak on B.C. farm: CFIA

By: THE CANADIAN PRESS

Posted: 01/23/2009 9:50 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies) | Last Modified: 01/23/2009 5:00 PM

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency is investigating the possibility of an H5 avian influenza outbreak on a commercial turkey farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley, the agency confirmed Friday.

Several farms within a three-kilometre radius of the turkey producer in Abbotsford, B.C., have been placed under quarantine, agency spokesperson Monika Mazur said.

Testing done at the B.C. provincial laboratory suggests the presence of H5 viruses, Mazur said. Samples have been sent to CFIA's national lab in Winnipeg for confirmatory testing.

"Depending on the sample quality, the initial results regarding the confirmation of the avian influenza could be expected as early as today," Mazur said from Ottawa on Friday.

The initial testing was done after turkeys on a 50,000 bird farm showed signs of respiratory distress.

If the Winnipeg lab confirms the presence of H5 viruses, additional tests will be needed to identify the virus's neuraminidase subtype - the N in a flu virus's name - and whether the virus is of high or low pathogenicity.

Low path viruses, as they are called, typically only lead to a drop in egg production. But high path viruses are dreaded in poultry operations because they can wipe out whole flocks. And the birds that don't die must be culled to extinguish the outbreak.

In 2004, 17 million birds died or were destroyed in an outbreak caused by a high path H7N3 virus in the Fraser Valley.

Mazur said it would be a couple of days before the full specifics of the virus type would be known.

The presence of H5 virus, if it is confirmed, does not mean there is an outbreak of the H5N1 virus that has killed nearly 250 people in parts of Asia, Africa and Europe. There are multiple subtypes of H5 avian flu. In fact, the Fraser Valley experienced an H5N2 outbreak in November 2005.

Even within H5N1 viruses there are different lineages or families of viruses. The one which has wrecked such havoc in Asia and parts of Africa has so far not been found in North America.

"We have no evidence that it's the Eurasian lineage (virus)," said influenza expert Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control.

"And given what's been found previously in North America, it's most likely the North American lineage."

Regardless of the virus type, workers will be taking full precautions if a cull of the birds on the farm is ordered, Skowronski said.

That means wearing protective gear. Workers would also be offered antiviral medication to prevent infection and flu shots to lower the risk that they might get simultaneously infected with human and bird flu viruses. That type of co-infection could give rise to a hybrid virus with the potential to cause a flu pandemic.

"You don't mess around with avian influenza viruses," Skowronski said. "You take all precautions."

A spokesperson for the B.C. Poultry Association said blood samples from the birds at E&H Farms tested positive for avian flu antibodies.

"That doesn't necessarily mean they're diseased with it," Calvin Bruekelman said. "It could be that they just have antibodies in the blood."

Bruekelman said the quarantine was a precaution and no additional action is needed until the confirmatory test results are available.

Mazur said the CFIA would inform the World Organization for Animal Health of the findings. Any outbreak of avian influenza involving H5 or H7 strains must be reported to the Paris-based organization, because those two subtypes can produce high path viruses.

Confirmation of an H5 or an H7 outbreak would likely lead to some countries closing their doors to poultry imports from the affected area.

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