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CP - 26th November 2005
Wild ducks tested positive for H5 avian flu viruses in Canada
HALIFAX - Officials confirmed Friday that 35 wild birds sampled in the Maritimes tested positive for H5 avian influenza viruses, but said they did not believe any were carrying the virulent strain of H5N1 avain flu responsible for widespread poultry outbreaks in Southeast Asia.
The infected birds, mostly black ducks and mallards, were found largely in an area around the Tantramar marshes near the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border. One positive case was found in Prince Edward Island. All of the birds were said to be in good health, leading scientists to believe they were not carrying the strain that has killed at least 68 people overseas.
"I don't call it a concern whatsoever," Dr. Pierre-Yves Daoust of the Atlantic Veterinary College in Charlottetown said Friday. "These are still preliminary results, but 35 of them were positive."
But further tests need to be done to fully identify the viruses and conclusively rule out any link to the Asian virus. That testing, which will be done at the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg, will include comparing the genetic sequences of the viruses to the Asian H5N1.
CBC News - 26th November 2005
Scientists, producers slam proposal to force poultry indoors
CANADA - Chicken producers and scientists have been quick to criticize the province for considering a move to force all birds to be raised indoors.
The move comes after several wild birds in the province tested positive for the H5N1 virus. While this is not the strain blamed for human deaths in Asia, provincial officials would rather be safe than sorry, so they are considering –among other possible risk-limiting measures – a move to have all poultry raised indoors to limit the risk of wild birds passing on the avian flu virus to domestic birds.
The Globe and Mail - 26th November 2005
Flu halted on B.C. duck farms, officials say
VANCOUVER -- One week after a duck at a Chilliwack farmtested positive for avian flu, health officials say they are cautiously optimistic that the virus has stopped spreading.
Canadian Food Inspection Agency veterinarian Con Kiley said yesterday that 4,500 birds from nearly 90 per cent of all farms in the surrounding area have been tested since last week.
VNA - 26th November 2005
Canada donates CA$1mil to VN's fight against bird flu
VIETNAM - The Canadian Government has decided to donate 1 million Canadian dollars to help Vietnam fight bird flu. The aid was announced by Robert Greenhill, President of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), at his meeting with Deputy Minister of Public Health Tran Chi Liem in Hanoi on Nov. 23.
Liem appreciated the Canadian Government's assistance in techniques, lab tests and epidemiological supervision to Vietnam's fight against SARS, bird flu and human influenza type A H5N1 in the recent past. He also praised Canada's help to Vietnam in mapping out a project to prevent several new infectious diseases.
Thanhnien News - 26th November 2005
Vietnam mulls spending $300 mln on bird flu fight
VIETNAM’s Ministry of Health asked the government Friday to allocate almost VND4.9 trillion (US$300 million) to buy medicine, chemicals and equipment to fight bird flu. Minister Tran Thi Trung Chien told deputies to the Vietnamese legislative body National Assembly about the proposal as part of the Ministry's plan to combat the deadly epidemic that has claimed 42 lives in Vietnam since late 2003. She said a large part of the proposed money would be used in provinces in the southern Mekong and northern Red river deltas, high risk areas for the spread of bird flu.
Reuters via the Boston Globe - 26th November 2005
Vietnam city poisons birds
HANOI -- Vietnam's commercial hub, Ho Chi Minh City, has begun poisoning pigeons and other wild birds as it moves to prevent avian flu from spreading into the crowded city, an official said yesterday. The H5N1 bird flu virus has flared in 19 of the country's 64 provinces, with the most recent cases reported in the northern provinces of Quan Ninh and Nghe An, the Agriculture Ministry said in a report released yesterday. The virus was detected this week in the south, where Ho Chi Minh City is located. The city has a population of about 6 million, the country's largest.
Thanhnien News - 26th November 2005
China confirms 23rd bird flu outbreak among poultry
CHINA - China's Ministry of Agriculture confirmed a bird flu outbreak in Zalantun city in northern China's Inner Mongolia, the official Xinhua news agency said Friday, bringing to 23 the number of outbreaks of the disease. A state avian flu lab confirmed that 246 fowl which died last Sunday in Zalantun had the H5N1 strain of highly pathogenic bird flu, Xinhua said. Local veterinary departments have culled 16,567 poultry within three kilometers (two miles) of the affected area, it said.
Sapa-dpa - 26th November 2005
Bird flu taking financial toll on farmers
BEIJING - Chinese agriculture officials have confirmed an outbreak of bird flu in the north-western Xinjiang region, state-run media reported on Friday. It was the seventh outbreak in 10 days with the confirmed presence of the deadly H5N1 avian influenza virus sub-type. The outbreak was found at a farm in the city of Turpan in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China's Ministry of Agriculture said.
Agri News - 26th November 2005
Measures to counter avian flu issued by USDA
WASHINGTON — Agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner outlined U.S. Department of Agriculture efforts to protect the United States against highly transmissible forms of avian influenza, a disease that commonly affects birds and has been transmitted to humans in Asia. "For more than two decades, USDA has worked to prepare for and prevent an outbreak of dangerous strains of avian influenza in our country," said Conner. "Attacking the disease at its source overseas is a main focus for USDA. We also have strict importation restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus in our country and an elaborate surveillance system in place to monitor our bird populations."
AP - 26th November 2005
Researchers urge monitoring farmers for avian flu exposure
US - University of Iowa scientists say birds are not the only risk for human exposure to the influenza virus carried by animals. Despite the worldwide focus on the avian flu virus, research by Dr. Gregory Gray shows pigs, too, pose a threat for passing the virus to humans.
In a study published this week in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, Gray said hogs' genetic makeup make them perfect mixing vessels for producing new strains of influenza virus.
AP via Canton Rep - 26th November 2005
Could free-range flocks be vulnerable to bird flu?
US - State officials and poultry researchers say there’s little risk of bird flu coming to Ohio, but if it does, the flocks most at risk are the ones being raised in outdoor pastures to meet growing consumer demand.
Farmers who specialize in free-range poultry downplay the concerns, saying their birds are protected and their farming methods inherently healthier.
AP via Chillicothe Gazette - 26th November 2005
Farmers dispute risks of bird flu
US - State officials and poultry researchers say there's little risk of bird flu coming to Ohio, but if it does, the flocks most at risk are the ones being raised in outdoor pastures to meet growing consumer demand.
Farmers who specialize in free-range poultry downplay the concerns, saying their birds are protected and their farming methods inherently healthier.
A new strain of avian influenza that infected geese appeared in July in Asia, and the worry is that the disease could spread to wild birds that migrate to North America, said Theresa Morishita, an Ohio State University veterinarian. The disease also could be imported through smuggling of parrots, songbirds or fighting chickens.