Possible Bird Flu in Canada

I saw on the news just an hour or so ago that there has been a bird flu discovered in Canada. It is an H5 variant, and they are working on what the N type is, but last I heard it is unlikely (but possible) to be N1.

Seen this also,

heres a link

link

Several wild birds carrying H5 flu viruses have been found in Quebec and Manitoba, officials from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency announced Monday.

"Preliminary testing has identified H5 influenza in 28 samples from Quebec, and five from Manitoba," Jim Clark of the CFIA told a news conference.

However, officials don't know yet if the birds have the lethal H5N1 subtype of the avian flu -- there are believed to be nine different H5 subtypes.

Health officials in Winnipeg conducting tests on the H5-infected birds won't know until mid-week whether they have H5N1

Asala, you beat me to it

On a relatead note, CBC reports that Canada is setting up avian surveillance:

Six laboratories across Canada are studying samples from wild ducks to set up an early warning system for detecting avian flu.


Wild ducks can serve as a reservoir for avian influenza viruses.
It's thought than if H5N1 bird flu gains the ability to spread between people then a human is most likely to bring the pandemic virus to North America. A nagging question is if wild birds could bring the virus to Canada.

www.cbc.ca...

This, like other developments is something to watch closely. Hits a bit closer to home though, being nestled between Quebec and Manitoba.

Where is the virus coming from?

From the thawing ice?

I just wonder...


Big Thaw Could Unleash Ancient Plague

Ah Im just too late ! I was going to post this, but ill just contribute my links.

www.cbc.ca...
breakingnews.iol.ie...
www.canada.com...

This is getting closer and closer to me

Just think about all those birds migrating out of the north ahead of the winter, flying south throughout Canada, the U.S.A. and down into Mexico like they do every year.

bird migratory pathways

Don't pay attention to the red dots -- that is the outbreaks from Jan 2005 thru Aug 2005 so that information is old but just notice how the paths of bird migration overlap in so many places - is there any doubt that the birds will be effected worldwide soon.

hahaha...the birds, they avoid Ontario because they can't stand the air.

Joking aside, this is scary. Quebec has a fairly hefty chunk of the Canadian population in it, and a few cases moving into Ontario could start a pandemic.

DE

Could be a milder form or it could be the lethal version. Just because the birds were asymptomatic doesn't mean they aren't carriers of the lethal H5N1.
Read below:

A total of 33 birds in Canada were found to be carrying the H5 version of the virus.


The highly pathogenic sequence in the healthy great crested grebe demonstrates that highly pathogenic H5N1 is present in asymptomatic wild waterfowl. This is similar to the asymptomatic waterfowl in Vietnam, which harbor high concentrations of highly pathogenic virus that is lethal to humans and chickens, yet produces mild or no ill effects in the waterfowl.

www.recombinomics.com...


Something to keep an eye on. Hopefully they report the results accurately. To say that any H5 has reached Canada is newsworthy and suspicious.

[edit on 31-10-2005 by DDay]

Bird flu - 1/29/09

www.youtube.com...

I'm not even in Canada and even so, this kind of stuff scares the s*** out of me. If it's H5N1 though the governments all over the globe wont let anyone know 'till there's a massive outbreak...*sigh*. I reckon this is going to be a global problem sooner or later, no one will be able to contain it all. You can't stop ALL birds from migrating.