B. C. bird flu not lethal, but cull a ‘precaution’

ABBOTSFORD, B. C.—

The avian flu discovered on a B. C. farm is not a lethal variety, but about 60,000 birds on the farm will still be destroyed as a precaution, public health officials said yesterday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the infection at the duck and goose farm in Chilliwack, outside Vancouver, is different from the virulent outbreak in Asia.

Veterinarian Cornelius Kiley said the H5 virus found in the commercial duck is a low pathogenic North American strain.

“. . . We’re looking at a virus capable of causing only a mild disease ( in birds), if any at all,” said Kiley, who works for the food inspection agency.

Federal officials separately reassured Canadians that the strain of the flu found in B. C. as well as positive test results for the H5N1 avian flu virus found in two wild ducks in Manitoba pose no threat to human health. On Saturday, officials said the H5N1 avian flu viruses found in the ducks in Manitoba is not the dangerous form of the virus circulating in southeast Asia.

“ I want to emphasize that the H5N1 subtype detected in Manitoba is completely distinct from the strain currently present in Asia,” said Dr. Brian Evans, Canada’s chief veterinarian.

Avian flu viruses bearing the same subtype name can vary widely in their ability to cause disease in poultry or pose a human health threat.

Officials announced Friday that they had found a duck with the H5 avian flu virus on the B. C. farm. The cull is in line with a plan set up after an outbreak of avian flu last year in B. C. which saw 17 million birds destroyed.

Kiley said killing the birds in Chilliwack is necessary because the virus could change.

“ The whole secret is to prevent these fairly innocuous viruses in wildlife from being transmitted to commercial operations. Because in commercial farms we know that these viruses can change” and become more dangerous, Kiley said.