No indication Canada bird flu outbreak has spread

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - There is no indication an outbreak of bird flu in Canada has spread beyond the turkey farm near Vancouver where the disease was discovered last week but testing continues, officials said on Monday.

Crews began killing the 60,000 turkeys at the farm in Abbotsford, British Columbia that were ordered destroyed after the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed several of the birds had contracted the virus.

Officials say the disease was H5 avian influenza but were awaiting test results to determine the exact virus strain and it pathogenicity, a measure of how severe the illness is to birds. Initial tests indicate it was a less severe strain.

There were no human illnesses associated with the outbreak and Canadian officials said the health threat to people in this case was very low.

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


http://ca.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idCATRE50O00220090127

[thunder rising]

1. Fear Fear Fear !!! 252 human deaths since 2003 ... you might give up driving for sure.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

3. That is 63% of the people that have contracted it, roughly 3 times more lethal than the Spanish Flu.

[thunder rising]

4. You have no FUCKING idea how many people contraced. Only the seriously ill people are sought help

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

5. 63% of the confirmed cases had died as a result. What are you so bitter about?

Is that better? You are probably correct a few people may have gotten the illness and not gotten that sick. Of course I'm sure some people were misdiagnosed in the early stages and are not counted. I'd bet it would all wash out and still come to around 60% it's been pretty stable around that level. Hopefully when it mutates it will weaken significantly.

David

[Name removed]

6. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

7. People like me? Please do tell.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

8. Do you honestly think highly pathogenic avian influenza is comparable to a common cold?

[spoony]

13. He's just posting a news item about a health-related story...

in the health forum. And it's a potentially important one. I didn't read anything in there that said we should be stocking up our bunkers, so no need for the aggressive posture.

[babylonsister]

2. How cold has it been in Vancouver recently? Early spring?

Curious.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

9. Sorry I don't know I came across the article while doing some research for a class I am teaching.

I found it interesting because the strain wasn't highly pathogenic. That could bode very well for humans if it weakens significantly when it mutates.

David

[Mojorabbit]

10. I wonder why it is taking so long

to identify the N component.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

11. Good question.

[ConcernedCanuk]

12. Well, they were wrong - "B.C. to extend bird flu quarantine" - yeah - really

.
.
.

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=1224363

B.C. to extend bird flu quarantine
Catherine Rolfsen, Vancouver Sun
Published: Tuesday, January 27, 2009

ABBOTSFORD, B.C. - One more Abbotsford-area farm has been placed under quarantine and more could be flagged in the coming days as the Canadian Food Inspection Agency continues to monitor an outbreak of avian flu.


Twenty-three farms were initially under quarantine because they are within a three-kilometre radius of E & H farms, where government officials Saturday confirmed the presence of the virus.


/snip/


In 2004, an outbreak of avian influenza led to the killing of 17 million birds in B.C., the largest animal cull in Canadian history.

______________________________________________________________________

We keep messing with momma nature

She messes back

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

14. All they did was extend the quarantine because of proximity not because of disease spread.