![\"birdflu_france_cp_9557644\"](\"http:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.611735.1378329658!\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_220\/birdflu-france-cp-9557644.jpg\")
<\/p>\nLess than a year after Ontario was\u00a0declared free of avian influenza, 14,000 ducks will be killed\u00a0after the virus was found on a commercial farm in\u00a0St.\u00a0Catharines, Ont.<\/p>\n
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency released a statement Friday\u00a0that the virus was found\u00a0in the 12-week old birds, and continued testing will be used to confirm which strain is present, though it is\u00a0connected to the H5N2 strain.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0CFIA\u00a0says the highly contagious virus has the potential to hit other farms in the area in the coming days.<\/p>\n
The infected farm raises only ducks, most of which are around 12 weeks of age, and have now been placed under quarantine to control disease spread.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Ontario was last confirmed to be free of avian influenza on October 8, 2015 (AP Photo\/Remy Gabalda)<\/p>\n
The\u00a0<\/span>CFIA\u00a0is in the early stages of doing a full epidemiological investigation, said Dr.\u00a0<\/span>Harpreet\u00a0<\/span>Kochhar, Chief Veterinary Officer of Operations at the agency.<\/span><\/p>\n The\u00a0CFIA\u00a0says there\u2019s no reason to be afraid.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAvian influenza does not pose a risk to food safety when\u00a0poultry and poultry products are properly handled and cooked and\u00a0rarely affects humans,\u201d\u00a0Kochhar said.<\/p>\n The first steps for the agency are to identify the strain, set up a surveillance zone and maintain the appropriate bio-security measures on the quarantined farm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re trying to figure out what would make sense in terms of the high risk contact farms,\u201d said Kochhar. The goal being to \u201ccontain the virus as well as have commerce in the rest of Ontario.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWere working diligently to get to that level,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n At this time the\u00a0CFIA\u00a0is asking all poultry producers to take extra precautions when it comes to the security of their livestock.<\/p>\n Colorized transmission electron micrograph of Avian influenza A H5N1 viruses (seen in gold) grown in MDCK cells (seen in green). (Ho\/Cynthia Goldsmith, Jackie Katz, Sharif Zaki\/CDC\/Canadian Press)<\/p>\n The main concern at this point is external contact, and \u201cwe are insisting to be very cautious about any kind of movement of birds,\u201d said Kochhar.?\u00a0\u201cThis is a farm that has the appropriate bio-security measures; there is nothing indicating that these are birds that are raised outside or have exposure to the outside.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n The highest risks for infection or spread of the virus come with movement of livestock, and exposure to new environments or wild birds.<\/p>\n Individuals with pet birds or backyard flocks are also being urged to take an active role, and employ strict bio-security measures\u00a0on their property.<\/p>\n \n There\u2019s always a risk with an influenza virus<\/span> The low pathogenic nature of the virus means few symptoms for birds, as opposed to the outbreak in turkey last year, which was highly pathogenic and infectious.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always a risk with an influenza virus,\u201d said Kochhar, who added\u00a0that this form of the virus is still highly contagious, but produces \u201cmilder illnesses in poultry.\u201d<\/p>\n While avian influenza does not pose a risk to food safety, and rarely affects humans, public health authorities are ready to take precautionary measures as necessary.<\/p>\n All 14,000 birds within the infected area will be humanely\u00a0euthanized, he said,\u00a0and disposed of in accordance with provincial environmental regulations, and internationally accepted disease control guidelines.<\/p>\n The CFIA is encouraging enhanced bio-security practices for farmers in Southern Ontario, including limiting outdoor exposure. (Phil Noble\/Reuters)<\/p>\n This is referred to as \u2018de-populating\u2019 the farm, and is necessary to ensure there is no spread to the virus.<\/p>\n The Province of Ontario will provide technical support as required with carcass disposal.<\/p>\n Once all birds have been removed, the\u00a0CFIA\u00a0will ensure the cleaning and disinfection of barns, vehicles, equipment\u00a0and tools to eliminate any remaining infectious materials.<\/p>\n The end goal is to ensure the elimination of the virus and \u201cminimize the impact on commerce,\u201d said Kochhar.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the bio-security measures are proper, this risk can be minimized,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Less than a year after Ontario was\u00a0declared free of avian influenza, 14,000 ducks will be killed\u00a0after the virus was found on a commercial farm in\u00a0St.\u00a0Catharines, Ont. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency released a statement Friday\u00a0that the virus was found\u00a0in the 12-week old birds, and continued testing will be used to confirm which strain is present, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-42808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42808\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Producers take caution<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"si-birdfluvirus-cp-220-0164\"](\"http:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.2004087.1381560003!\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_300\/si-birdfluvirus-cp-220-0164.jpg\")
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\u2013 Dr. Harpreet\u00a0Kochhar<\/cite>\n<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nEuthanization\u00a0and disposal<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Ducks](\"http:\/\/i.cbc.ca\/1.2839248.1416333996!\/fileImage\/httpImage\/image.jpg_gen\/derivatives\/original_300\/ducks-in-cage.jpg\")
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