I'm not too concerned about this particular outbreak as all the migratory birds have already flown South this year.  What worries me is if there is an outbreak just before the migration next fall and H5N1 gets a free ride all over the continent.

http://www.reuters.com/article/middleeastCrisis/idUSN24329170  << Left cold on purpose.
Bird flu confirmed on Canada turkey farm
Sat Jan 24, 2009 6:58pm EST
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Tests have confirmed an outbreak of bird flu at a turkey farm near Vancouver, but it appeared to be a less virulent strain and posed little risk to humans, officials said on Saturday.

More than 50,000 birds on the Abbotsford, British Columbia, farm will be destroyed to ensure the avian influenza virus does not spread to other farms, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said.

Tests on sickened birds showed they had H5 avian influenza, but it will be another day or more before the exact strain of the virus is known and its pathogenicity, the agency said.

Pathogenicity indicates the severity of the illness to the birds. Preliminary tests indicated that it was a low pathogenic strain, it said.

"Nobody has been infected by the virus," said Elizabeth Brodkin, medical officer of the Fraser Health Authority.

The H5N1 strain of the virus can infect people and is responsible for 252 human deaths since 2003, according to the World Health Organization.

China on Saturday reported its fourth human death from H5N1 this month.

Twenty-three farms within 2 miles (3 km) of the farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley are under a quarantine as officials check to make sure their flocks have not been infected.

Officials said the farm had followed all the rules designed to stop and control the disease.

The area had bird flu outbreaks in 2004 and 2005. The 2004 outbreak forced authorities to kill about 17 million farmed birds to stop the disease from spreading. There were no human illnesses in either outbreak.

The inspection agency said it was moving quickly to cull the turkeys to avoid a repeat of 2004, when the virus mutated to a highly pathogenetic form before the outbreak was contained. (Reporting Allan Dowd; Editing Xavier Briand)

shit thats closer than i like

There is only one way to be sure....

http://www.eek3.us/ot/Nuke2.JPG

They think this is H5N2 not H5N1. This strain is more dangerous to birds than humans. There are several strains of H5 type influenza in the bird populations. We have seen low pathogenic H5N1 is North America but the deadly high pathogenic  human form has not been found here yet.

What is going on in China right now is the real story. 6 H5N1 deaths this year with 2 of those with no exposure to birds. There are stirrings of Human to Human transfer. The Chinese Lunar new year is approaching and there will be many festivals and lots of people moving around. The past 4 years this has been a time of concern among people who follow H5N1. For many poor Chinese this is the only time of the year they move around. This is the perfect opportunity for H5N1 to be passed around and an opportunity for it to change into a more easily passed virus.

China, Indonesia, India, and Egypt are the hotspots.

[quote=from the article]Officials said the farm had followed all the rules designed to stop and control the disease. [/quote]

i wonder.  does this mean the rules are inadequate, they weren't really followed as closely as the farm is representing or this strain mutated and was transmitted in a way not previously anticipated (thus there was no rule to protect against it)?

all of the articles by experts that i've read have always stated it's not a matter of if, but when there is a human outbreak.

Hey Migradog,

Could you please post a link for this confirmation of Low Path H5N1. I cannot find that confirmation with any of my sources. They have confirmed it is an H5 variant but I have not heard it is H5N1. Any help would be appreciated.

It doesn't look like the neuraminidase has been confirmed yet.

There's no mention of the neuraminidase type in that report.  It should be a simple identification though.  A rapid PCR then a sero-typing would have answers pretty quick.  Then again, the company I work for has been talking with the Canadian government for years about our PCR test flu panel and they haven't made a move yet.


Here's another report.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2009/01/24/8135646-cp.html

Bird flu found on B.C. turkey farm
By Greg Joyce, THE CANADIAN PRESS

A bio hazard control sign sits outside a poultry farm in Abbotsford, B.C. after a turkey farm in the area tested positive for the H5 avian flu virus, Saturday, January 24, 2009. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Richard Lam

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - The H5 avian influenza virus has been confirmed on a commercial turkey farm in British Columbia's Fraser Valley, and as many as 60,000 birds will be euthanized, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Saturday.

The agency said tests to date indicate that the strain involved in this case is "low pathogenic." Pathogenicity refers to the severity of the illness caused in birds.

The agency is also restricting the movement of poultry and poultry products within three kilometres of the infected premises.

"To limit potential virus spread the CFIA has applied restrictions on movement of poultry and poultry products within three kilometres of the infected premises," said Sandra Stephens, a disease control specialist with the agency at a news conference in Abbotsford.

She said the agency was also relying on "all backyard poultry owners to monitor their flocks and immediately report any sick or dead birds they find in those flocks."

The agency said avian influenza viruses do not pose risks to food safety when poultry and poultry products are properly handled and cooked.


Avian influenza rarely affects humans unless they have had close contact with infected birds.

Once all birds have been removed, the agency will oversee the cleaning and disinfection of the barns, vehicles, equipment and tools to eliminate any infectious material that may remain.

Testing was done after turkeys on the farm showed signs of respiratory distress.

Further testing is underway to confirm pathogenicity and to determine the precise subtype and strain of the virus.

Stephens said the birds to be euthanized range in age from a few days to about 12 weeks.

In addition to the specific farm under testing, Stephens said the quarantine extends to an additional 23 farms within the three-kilometre radius.

Results to determine the seriousness of the pathogenicity are underway and Stephens said those results could be known later on the weekend.

She compared the current outbreak to one in 2004 that resulted in millions of birds having to be destroyed.

"In 2004 the initial diagnosis of pathogenicity was determined to be low. But it rapidly went form low path to high path.

"That's quite different than what we are seeing in this particular situation where it appears to be a low pathogenic form and right now we see no evidence it has changed to a high path."

The euthanization process involves pumping a lethal gas into the barns, which she said could occur Monday.

And if the virus does not spread, she suggested the quarantine would likely be lifted after about 21 days.

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.

The presence of H5 virus 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.

We need to nuke Canada now to stop the spread of this.

Thats still close to home...

H5N1 is different than H5N2 from a human perspective. It is my understanding that N2 is not dangerous to humans. Doesn't mean it won't change that way someday but right now it isn't a problem for us. It is a concern for the farmers who raise fowl. It can wipe out a farm. I hope this is N2 and not N1.

When we see high path H5N1 here it will change the playing field for all farmers.

A version of H5N1 is what caused the 1918 epidemic and has not been found in north or south america... yet. The Chinese New Year is tomorrow, which means it's now because they are a day ahead. As the routine Influenza virus seems to have no trouble making it to the US every year, I've no doubt that if the H5N1 Avian Influenza recombines to form a version that can transmit human to human, it will have no trouble making it to our shores with the next international flight.

The respirators you need can (and should) be bought here:
Direct from 3M

Actually, the 1918 Pandemic was type A H1N1. There 3 different types of Influenza. Type A, Type B and Type C. There are subclades of each of these.

Low Path H5N1 has been found in North America. Maryland, Michigan and Canada. Probably more than that but the CDC only started requiring notifiaction in the last couple of years.

Governments will try to hide HP H5N1 as much as they can because it has started affecting their economies. There are people across the world who are watching and listening at street level and they will be the ones who will sound the alarms way before any govenrment. What we see get reported on the news is usually 3 days behind what these independent people report. There are some really good blogs on the net that will help sound the bell.

Preliminary sequencing is H5N2.