The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says avian flu has now been detected on a non-commercial premise in Aldergrove.
The agency says the incident involves 85 birds that include ducks, chickens, geese and turkeys.
Eleven Fraser Valley farms have tested positive for avian flu in recent weeks. The strain has been identified as highly pathogenic H5N2, the same strain that struck Fraser Valley poultry farms in 2005 and 2009. Authorities say the virus has the ability to cause high mortality in domestic poultry.
A timeline of the virus shows it was first detected by the CIFA at a turkey farm in Abbotsford (with 28,000 turkeys) and a broiler breeder farm in Chilliwack (13,000 birds) on Dec. 1. It then spread to the following:
- Dec. 4: two broiler breeder farms in Abbotsford (14,000 and 25,000 birds)
- Dec. 6: Abbotsford turkey farm (33,000 turkeys)
- Dec. 9: Abbotsford turkey farm (33,000 turkeys)
- Dec. 10: two broiler breeder farms in Abbotsford (19,000 and 8,800)
- Dec. 11: Abbotsford broiler breeder farm (7,000)
- Dec. 13: Langley table egg layers (53,000)
- Dec.17: Langley broiler and breeders (11,800)
There are no reports of H5N2 related illness in humans.
The outbreak has prompted several countries or regions, including Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Singapore, South Africa and Mexico, to ban poultry products from B.C. and Canada.
With files from Amy Judd
Comments