Wild ducks test positive for H5 avian flu in Canada
CP - 26th November 2005
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.
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.
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