Fraser Valley farms quarantined over fears of avian flu

Fraser Valley farms quarantined over fears of avian flu
Last Updated: Friday, January 23, 2009 | 2:12 PM PT Comments36Recommend46CBC News
Several Abbotsford poultry farms were under a quarantine on Friday after a suspected outbreak of avian influenza was detected on a turkey farm. (CBC)A possible outbreak of avian influenza has left several poultry farms in B.C.'s Fraser Valley under quarantine as officials conduct further tests.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency imposed the quarantine on an undisclosed number of farms within a one- to three-kilometre radius of a turkey producer in Abbotsford, B.C., according to the president of the B.C. Poultry Association, Ray Nickel.

Avian influenza antibodies have been found in some 12-week-old turkeys, but testing is still underway to determine whether they have the virus and what strain of it might be involved, said Nickel.

"It is unconfirmed at this point as to what type it is," he said. "It appears to be a low [pathogenic strain] because of the on-farm situation — low mortality and that sort of thing."

Seventeen million birds were slaughtered in the Fraser Valley in February 2004 following an outbreak of the H7N3 version of the disease, a different strain from deadly H5N1 version linked to deaths and illnesses in Southeast Asia, China, Russia and Europe.