Bird Flu Was Found In 2 Southern Ontario Poultry Farms & They Were Placed In Quarantine
Humans can catch the flu on rare occasions.
Chickens. Right: Canadian Food Inspection Agency sign in Ottawa.
Bird flu can be deadly and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency just found some cases in southern Ontario.
On March 28, the CFIA announced a poultry flock in the southern end of the province contained "the presence of highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI)" which they said was a subtype of H5N1.
The CFIA notes on their website that avian influenza can cause disease in humans on rare occasions and that people can catch the virus if they get in close contact with infected birds.
"To control any potential spread of the disease, the CFIA has placed the premises under quarantine and is establishing movement control measures and recommending enhanced biosecurity for other farms within that area," their statement reads.
This is the second case that they've found in the last two days, with the first being seen on March 27 in another poultry flock in southern Ontario.
The CFIA recommends that people wear protective clothing including goggles, gloves, boots, and masks if you're working with birds that you suspect may have the virus.
Some signs that a bird might be infected are if they develop extreme depression, hemorrhages on their hock, they don't produce as many eggs as they normally do, the skin under their eyes is swollen, or they get diarrhea. Sudden deaths of groups of birds may also be a sign that the flu is present.
According to the government of Ontario, there are a lot of people who own small flocks of hobby birds, pet and sports birds, show birds, backyard chickens, and other poultry that are raised for eggs or meat.