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Avian flu found in duck, Chilliwack farm quarantined
Testing will determine strain of virus, but public not at risk, officials say
Kim Bolan and Darah Hansen; with a file from Miro Cernetig
Vancouver Sun
Saturday, November 19, 2005
CREDIT: Stuart Davis, Vancouver Sun
Fraser Valley Duck and Goose Ltd. is closed after a duck was found to have a form of bird flu.
A major Chilliwack duck and goose farm was quarantined Friday after avian flu was detected in a duck from a domestic flock, the Ministry of Agriculture announced.
Health officials were quick to say there is no risk to public health as a result of the discovery, but further testing is being done on the farm in question and neighbouring farms within a five-kilometre radius.
Dr. Ron Lewis, the province's chief veterinarian, said the duck was showing no symptoms of the disease, believed to be the H5 strain, but was tested after slaughter due to other concerns.
"This particular bird was sent to us for other reasons, but simply as part of our surveillance, we have detected avian influenza virus. We also know that avian influenza viruses are common in wild waterfowl, so perhaps this is not an unexpected possibility," Lewis told reporters. "We have notified the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and they are also taking this very seriously, simply because of what happened last year. They have quarantined the farm and are going to be doing additional testing."
There are many influenza subtypes, two of which include H5 and H7. To date, the H5N1 strain has proven the most deadly to humans, infecting 117 people, mainly in Asia, and killing about 50 per cent of them. In 2004, a highly pathogenic strain of H7 -- H7N3 -- was detected in chickens in the Fraser Valley and led to a mass culling of 17.1 million chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks on orders of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. The H7N3 strain is fatal to birds but poses little or no risk to humans.
Ken Falk, president of Fraser Valley Duck and Goose Ltd. lost 140,000 birds to the virus in 2004. Now he's bracing for another possible hit to his family-owned business after confirming Friday it is his farm that is under quarantine following the discovery of the virus in one of his ducks.
"We've been there before and here we go again," Falk said Friday in an interview.
Falk said the virus showed up in one of his ducks after he'd sent a sample of birds from his farm to a government lab to be tested for something unrelated to avian flu. Since the 2004 outbreak, he said, B.C. poultry farmers have introduced increased bio-security measures to the industry to screen for the virus.
"We take this seriously," he said.
News that the virus has once again turned up, he said, was disappointing, but not altogether surprising.
"Waterfowl are known to harbour influenza viruses of various subtypes. This is not surprising that we find this in ducks. When you look for it, then you find it," Falk said.
Results of tests to determine just what strain of the flu has turned up this time have yet to be come in. That could take up to a week, said Falk. Until then, he said, he and his 55 employees are in "wait and see mode."
"It might be a relatively harmless strain," he said. "Until we know differently, we have no reason to think otherwise."
Falk said the virus could affect 60,000 ducks and geese on his farm, which sells the birds for meat.
Dr. Jim Clark, of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, said a response plan was "immediately activated" following the virus detection.
"Measures are being put in place to control movement into and out of the flock in accordance with protocols that were developed jointly between the poultry industry and the government of Canada," Clark said. "We don't know at this point if the virus identified in this duck was highly pathogenic."
Clark said the duck was from a healthy flock and had no symptoms of illness.
Samples from the duck were flown to Winnipeg late Friday to the Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases for confirmatory testing and further analysis.
"We are investigating the movement of all birds, bird products and equipment and people onto and off of the premises during the last 21 days," Clark said. "This action is intended to identify potential sources of infection and premises that may be at risk and we are initiating surveillance activities for all domestic birds within five kilometres . . . . "
Clark said the finding is not surprising in a domestic duck given the prevalence of the virus in wild birds.
"The birds are known carriers of the virus and are commonly raised under conditions where they may be exposed to avian influenza viruses carried by wild birds," he said. "However, it reflects and reinforces the need for bird owners to follow strict bio-security measures."
Dr. Eric Young, assistant provincial health officer, said all the appropriate agencies are involved "to work out a plan."
And he said the family that owns the farm is being offered appropriate anti-viral medication as a precaution, as are all farm-workers.
"We think because there is no illness in the duck flock and the duck with avian influenza symptoms, that the risk to the public is zero. But we are not willing to take any chances whatsoever though with the family, because they might have had more exposure," he said.
Premier Gordon Campbell said British Columbians should be concerned about the outbreak and the government will be closely monitoring its extent.
"Sure we should be concerned," he said in an interview. "And we're going to be on it."
Because of last year's outbreak, better monitoring is in place and there was an instant response to the discovery, Lewis said.
Earlier this month, Lewis announced that a limited sample of healthy wild migratory birds in B.C. revealed that approximately 24 per cent tested positive for the H5 subtype of the avian influenza virus.
"It is very unlikely that the H5 virus found in these samples is the same as the pathogenic strain from Asia. The samples were all taken from young healthy birds," Lewis said. "It's important to keep in mind these birds are live and healthy."
The samples were gathered by the Canadian Wildlife Service as part of the cross-country testing of viruses carried by wild waterfowl, being co-ordinated through the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre. B.C. is one of six provinces participating in this project. The B.C. samples were gathered during routine banding of migratory waterfowl.
The 704 samples were taken from migratory birds, most of which were mallards, from the area around Merritt. None tested positive for H7 strains.
AVIAN FLU'S LAST B.C. OUTBREAK
In 2004, a highly pathogenic strain of H7 was detected in chickens in the Fraser Valley, leading to a mass culling of 17.1 million chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks on orders of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Feb. 18, 2004 Canadian Food Inspection Agency placed a
Matsqui Prairie chicken farm under official quarantine after discovery of avian flu strain.
Feb. 19, 2004 The process of euthanizing 18,000 birds in two barns using pressurized carbon dioxide began and continued for 16 hours with duct tape and foam insulation sealing doors and windows.
Feb. 22, 2004 The dairy feed bunker where the bird carcasses were dumped for composting reached capacity at 10,000 birds, and the remaining material was transported in plastic-lined cardboard totes to a Princeton incinerator.
Feb. 23, 2004 The CFIA lifted the quarantine on the farm "despite the presence of a large quantity of composting infected carcasses," according to a report by the Canadian Veterinary Journal.
March 6, 2004 Two weeks after the bird cull at the Matsqui farm, avian flu was diagnosed by the B.C. government lab at a second broiler operation 1.5 kilometres away and downwind.
March 13, 2004 Culling of 23,500 birds at this site began after CFIA had confirmed the diagnosis by its own National Foreign Animal Disease Laboratory in Winnipeg. Here, the CFIA opted to destroy the birds with a mobile electric stunning machine. The carcasses were fed along an open conveyor belt to be dropped into the top of reefer trucks.
March 22, 2004 Avian flu was diagnosed in the flocks of a third cluster of commercial poultry farmers two kilometres downwind from the first farm.
April 1, 2004 It's determined the flu had jumped beyond the original five-kilometre-radius, high-risk zone around the Matsqui farm. A total of 42 commercial poultry farms were infected, requiring the slaughter of 1.3 million birds.
April 19, 2004 Senior government officials meet in Abbotsford to draft a plan for culling and disposing of the 19 million threatened Fraser Valley poultry.
May 12, 2004 Public health authorities closed an elementary school in Abbotsford after a new strain of avian flu was found on a nearby farm.
Aug. 18, 2004 CFIA lifted all remaining movement restrictions on birds, bird products and bird by-products in the Fraser Valley. The removal of these restrictions brought an official end to the avian influenza response operation. In total, about 17.1 million chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks were culled.
Also See: Preparing for pandemic, A13. Ran with fact box "Avian flu's last B.C. outbreak", which has been appended to the end of the story.
"Measures are being put in place to control movement into and out of the flock in accordance with protocols that were developed jointly between the poultry industry and the government of Canada," Clark said. "We don't know at this point if the virus identified in this duck was highly pathogenic."
Clark said the duck was from a healthy flock and had no symptoms of illness.
Samples from the duck were flown to Winnipeg late Friday to the Centre for Foreign Animal Diseases for confirmatory testing and further analysis.
"We are investigating the movement of all birds, bird products and equipment and people onto and off of the premises during the last 21 days," Clark said. "This action is intended to identify potential sources of infection and premises that may be at risk and we are initiating surveillance activities for all domestic birds within five kilometres . . . . "
Clark said the finding is not surprising in a domestic duck given the prevalence of the virus in wild birds.
"The birds are known carriers of the virus and are commonly raised under conditions where they may be exposed to avian influenza viruses carried by wild birds," he said. "However, it reflects and reinforces the need for bird owners to follow strict bio-security measures."
Dr. Eric Young, assistant provincial health officer, said all the appropriate agencies are involved "to work out a plan."
And he said the family that owns the farm is being offered appropriate anti-viral medication as a precaution, as are all farm-workers.
"We think because there is no illness in the duck flock and the duck with avian influenza symptoms, that the risk to the public is zero. But we are not willing to take any chances whatsoever though with the family, because they might have had more exposure," he said.
Premier Gordon Campbell said British Columbians should be concerned about the outbreak and the government will be closely monitoring its extent.
"Sure we should be concerned," he said in an interview. "And we're going to be on it."
Because of last year's outbreak, better monitoring is in place and there was an instant response to the discovery, Lewis said.
Earlier this month, Lewis announced that a limited sample of healthy wild migratory birds in B.C. revealed that approximately 24 per cent tested positive for the H5 subtype of the avian influenza virus.
"It is very unlikely that the H5 virus found in these samples is the same as the pathogenic strain from Asia. The samples were all taken from young healthy birds," Lewis said. "It's important to keep in mind these birds are live and healthy."
The samples were gathered by the Canadian Wildlife Service as part of the cross-country testing of viruses carried by wild waterfowl, being co-ordinated through the Canadian Cooperative Wildlife Health Centre. B.C. is one of six provinces participating in this project. The B.C. samples were gathered during routine banding of migratory waterfowl.
The 704 samples were taken from migratory birds, most of which were mallards, from the area around Merritt. None tested positive for H7 strains.
AVIAN FLU'S LAST B.C. OUTBREAK
In 2004, a highly pathogenic strain of H7 was detected in chickens in the Fraser Valley, leading to a mass culling of 17.1 million chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks on orders of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Feb. 18, 2004 Canadian Food Inspection Agency placed a
Matsqui Prairie chicken farm under official quarantine after discovery of avian flu strain.
Feb. 19, 2004 The process of euthanizing 18,000 birds in two barns using pressurized carbon dioxide began and continued for 16 hours with duct tape and foam insulation sealing doors and windows.
Feb. 22, 2004 The dairy feed bunker where the bird carcasses were dumped for composting reached capacity at 10,000 birds, and the remaining material was transported in plastic-lined cardboard totes to a Princeton incinerator.
Feb. 23, 2004 The CFIA lifted the quarantine on the farm "despite the presence of a large quantity of composting infected carcasses," according to a report by the Canadian Veterinary Journal.
March 6, 2004 Two weeks after the bird cull at the Matsqui farm, avian flu was diagnosed by the B.C. government lab at a second broiler operation 1.5 kilometres away and downwind.
March 13, 2004 Culling of 23,500 birds at this site began after CFIA had confirmed the diagnosis by its own National Foreign Animal Disease Laboratory in Winnipeg. Here, the CFIA opted to destroy the birds with a mobile electric stunning machine. The carcasses were fed along an open conveyor belt to be dropped into the top of reefer trucks.
March 22, 2004 Avian flu was diagnosed in the flocks of a third cluster of commercial poultry farmers two kilometres downwind from the first farm.
April 1, 2004 It's determined the flu had jumped beyond the original five-kilometre-radius, high-risk zone around the Matsqui farm. A total of 42 commercial poultry farms were infected, requiring the slaughter of 1.3 million birds.
April 19, 2004 Senior government officials meet in Abbotsford to draft a plan for culling and disposing of the 19 million threatened Fraser Valley poultry.
May 12, 2004 Public health authorities closed an elementary school in Abbotsford after a new strain of avian flu was found on a nearby farm.
Aug. 18, 2004 CFIA lifted all remaining movement restrictions on birds, bird products and bird by-products in the Fraser Valley. The removal of these restrictions brought an official end to the avian influenza response operation. In total, about 17.1 million chickens, turkeys, geese and ducks were culled.
Also See: Preparing for pandemic, A13. Ran with fact box "Avian flu's last B.C. outbreak", which has been appended to the end of the story.
© The Vancouver Sun 2005