- The number of countries limiting or banning imports of
Canadian poultry has jumped following news that the avian flu that infected
a B.C. poultry farm was more severe than first thought.
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- More than 20 countries, including the U.S., have already
placed restrictions on the importation of Canadian poultry. And the countries
in the European Union are expected to follow suit today, according to a
list released yesterday by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
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- Avian flu was discovered on the Loewen Acres Farm near
Matsqui in late February. The flu, which killed some 2,000 birds and led
to the slaughter of the remaining 16,000, proved to be the mild H7N3 strain,
unrelated to the avian flu that has killed 22 people in Asia.
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- Now some of the younger birds in the flock have been
found to have been killed by a more pathogenic -- virulent -- form of the
H7N3 virus.
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- There has been no evidence the strain has jumped to humans.
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- "This is a rare occurrence where we have high pathogenic
and low pathogenic on the same farm with the same subtype," said Dr.
Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian with the food agency.
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- "But we do know viruses change and mutate, and we
expect that this is what happened here."
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- More pathogenic avian flu can spread quicker and kill
more birds.
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- Marc Richard of the CFIA said that while some countries
chose to restrict poultry products following the low pathogenic outbreak,
it isn't surprising more countries moved on hearing of the more severe
strain.
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- The U.S. ban applies only to live birds and poultry products
from B.C.
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- Canada took similar action on news of a high pathogenic
strain discovered in Texas, said Richard.
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- Lisa Bishop of the Chicken Farmers of Canada said the
poultry export business is worth about $125 million a year, about seven
per cent of Canada's poultry business. She acknowledged the export business
will take a hit.
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- "We don't know how long the bans are going to be
in place," said Bishop. "So far, the effects have been fairly
minimal, but the longer it goes, the bigger the risk."
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- Meanwhile, CFIA officials are awaiting avian-flu test
results from another Fraser Valley poultry farm about three kilometres
from the farm where the original outbreak occurred.
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- The food agency had been monitoring farms within a five-kilometre
radius of the Loewen farm, and on Tuesday found that some birds on a second
farm had either died or had flu-like symptoms.
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- "Out of an abundance of caution, samples were taken
from those birds and they are being analyzed at our Winnipeg laboratory,"
said Kiley. "We're expecting results within one or two days."
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- Three workers at the farm have been placed under observation
by medical staff, but display no flu symptoms. Earlier, five workers at
the Loewen farm who had symptoms were cleared of any avian-flu connection.
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- - With a file by Canadian Press
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- - canderson@png.canwest.com
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- © The Vancouver Province 2004
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- http://www.canada.com/vancouver/theprovince/news/story.html?id=
409b1fec-3fcb-4460-aa11-022b645ee0e5
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