H5 avian flu virus found on B.C. farm

[Dar]

here's the link if anyone in intrested...

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/article/576842

 

[pips&peeps]

low pathogen, not the H5N1..............

 

[spook]

Even if it is a low threat, it is important for all of us to pay attention to these matters. Like that of MS,MG, vaccine ILT, these are important subjects that need to be taken note of. No, they may not kill this, that and another - but it is detrimental to our back yard flocks and needs to be addressed. Not only that, AI regardless to the Asian flu or one of the other many strains, we need to get over that "big deal" attitude and learn facts.

mjsdhs - Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention and giving a link. I appreciate it.

 

[cgmccary]

I note this was detected on a "commercial turkey" farm -- just as predicted by any knowledgeable person.

I also note the comment added by post at the end of the article (which I agree with), the gist being: this should not even had made the news. It is up to us to correct the news or point these things out.

 

[orcasislandchickens]

This is not news around here. The wild birds carry it up and down the flyway from BC to California and it has been monitored (as it should be) by authorities for years. Periodically a domestic flock is infected. Avian influenza is like the regular people flu in that there are many strains, so bird flu covers a whole lot of territory and is not just the strain from China that kills off people. Usually the affected flock and all the nearby ones, are culled, quarentines are put into effect etc. It is spread by waterfowl, mostly, and wild birds in general, (which is a pretty large, highly mobile, and diverse group). Unless you are going to kill every living feathered creature in North America, there will always be some risk.

All of that said, there is such a thing as appropriate caution. Many of you will remember I had to leave an African Grey parrot behind when I moved from BC to Washington State a few years ago, so this is a topic near and dear to my heart. There was an outbreak of avian flu on Vancouver Island at that point in time and authorities wanted to be cautious. I felt it was better for my bird to adopt her out to freinds in BC, than to go through the rigorous and lengthy quarentine regime required to bring her with me.

I feel that backyard poultry enthusiasts have a responsibility to remain aware of the danger, and minimize contact between their birds and wild ones. I think it is also prudent for those of us that have only a few chickens as pets, especially those of us that keep them in urban environments, to think about the idea that in an urban environment it is not hard to separate them entirely. Enclosed aviary coop/run setups work very well for just a few chickens and more or less eliminate the problem of poultry and wild birds co-mingling. This same setup keeps them safe from neighbors dogs, vandals, rats and pests of all kinds and can usually blend very nicely with the house and garden. You can let them out to a bird feeder free yard if you feel it is desirable and, should there be any sort of diagnosed outbreak, you can confine them as long as necessary and institute very rigid biosecurity measures with very little difficulty. I would like to point out that wild birds carry a number of other diseases that cause problems for our poultry, besides the one everyone seems to be worrying will wipe out humanity, and keeping your chickens away from wild birds has been standard good advice for many years.

Edited due to my rotten spelling, like usual, sorry.