HALIFAX (CP) - Thirty-six healthy, wild ducks from the Maritime provinces have tested positive for H5 and H7 strains of avian influenza viruses.
Researchers are quick to point out that these results do not indicate any increased threat to human health or commercial poultry flocks. Of 710 birds tested as part of a national wild bird surveillance program, 35 in the Maritime provinces were found to be carrying H5 viruses and one carried an H7 viruses.
Most of the birds were taken from an area along the border between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.
Additional testing needs to be done to identify which strains of H5 viruses were found.
But health officials say it is unlikely the viruses are the same as the virulent H5N1 strain causing widespread outbreaks among birds in southeast Asia. That strain has been blamed for at least 68 human deaths.
The H5 and H7 viruses were the first officials looked for because some viruses of these subtypes are highly pathogenic and can trigger economically devastating outbreaks in domestic poultry. Smaller numbers of birds infected with H5 and H7 viruses have been found in British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec as part of the surveillance program.
The Maritime samples have been sent to the National Centre for Foreign Animal Disease in Winnipeg to confirm preliminary results and to determine the subtypes of the viruses.
Bird flu outbreaks have continued to spread in Vietnam, while a man suspected of being infected with the virus fled a hospital quarantine unit, state-controlled media reported today.
The southern Mekong Delta province of Long An became the newest area to report bird flu outbreaks among poultry, the Department of Animal Health said on its website.
Outbreaks have been reported in 19 other provinces throughout the country since October, killing or forcing the slaughter of more than 1 million birds, it said.
Meanwhile, a man was admitted yesterday to the General Hospital in southern Tien Giang province with a high fever and difficulty breathing, the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper said. He was transferred to an isolation ward, left to buy personal items and never returned, it said.
The man told doctors he slaughtered his sick chickens a week before falling ill, the newspaper said. Officials in his home province of Ben Tre have been trying to persuade the man to return to the hospital, it said.
In addition, today’s Pioneer newspaper reported that the Ministries of Agriculture and Finance have jointly asked Prime Minister Phan Van Khai to provide financial assistance for farmers in unaffected areas who raise more than 500 poultry to try to lessen their losses.
The proposal comes as more and more people shy away from poultry, making it increasingly difficult for farmers to sell their products.
The ministries also requested rescheduling debts for poultry farmers for one year, it said.
At least 67 people have died from bird flu in Asia since 2003, the bulk of them in Vietnam.
Health experts fear the virus could mutate into a contagious form that spreads easily from person to person. So far, most human cases have been traced to contact with birds.
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