March 11, 2004
Bird Flu Virus In Canadian Hatchery Present For At Least A Year
If inspectors had bothered to check, they would have found bird flu smouldering at a rural B.C. hatchery a year before chickens began dying, says a virology expert.
Not stamping the disease out earlier allowed it to mutate, allowing it to become more deadly, and now scientists are working to determine whether it has spread to a second farm.
"They should have been able to detect it for a year, more than likely," said Earl Brown, a virology professor at the University of Ottawa. "In that period of time you can get movement because people aren't as cautious when chickens aren't dying,"
"You can't let that go," said Brown. "If that situation is allowed to continue over a period of time, probably a year, you can count on the fact that you're going to get the evolution of a high virulence form of the virus."
The beginnings of the outbreak that hit an Abbotsford, B.C., poultry breeder last month could have been missed, said Dr. Cornelius Kiley, a veterinarian with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
That's because avian flu in its low pathogenic form, which doesn't kill and often doesn't produce symptoms, is somewhat common among poultry flocks.
"It could have gone unnoticed," said Kiley.
About 16,000 chickens had to be destroyed at Loewen Acres. Five workers fell ill with mild flu and the eye infection conjunctivitis, but tests showed avian flu was not to blame.
The food-inspection agency moved quickly to stop the flu from spreading, isolating the farm, but now it is testing a sample from another nearby breeder where birds are showing a low level of illness.
Three workers at that property were exposed to the infected birds and are being watched by health authorities. So far no sicknesses have been reported.
Kiley said it's the job of veterinarians working for farmers to monitor the birds and report any illnesses to the inspection agency.
"That is what occurred," said Kiley. "These two farms are very well-run operations. Poultry veterinary specialists called by the owners were doing their work properly."
"Once we became aware of significant mortalities, we already had a sample in the lab and were testing it."
With bird flu mutating and making surprising jumps to humans in recent years, Brown said it's time to start taking avian flu more seriously before birds die by the thousands. Health risks aside, avian flu left unchecked has seen the destruction of poultry industries in North America in the past few years.
"If it gets going and spreading into farms, it's tough to control it," said Brown. "In Virginia two years ago they had to kill five million birds and in 1983 an outbreak in Pennsylvania got so bad they had to kill all chickens in three states."
In that case, a mild form of the flu was present the year before. The same thing occurred in Mexico in the 1990s, Italy in 1999 and last year in the Netherlands.
Brown called the disease "an Ebola with wings" that has made shocking mutations. Recently, two strains, including the one now at the B.C. farm, have jumped to humans and caused deaths.
"It's doing something we've never recognized before," said Brown. "Is the likelihood it will spread to humans greater? It's probably not that great, but it makes you nervous."
Fourteen countries placed full or partial bans on Canadian poultry after the first outbreak was confirmed. With news of testing at a second property, Japan and the United States moved Wednesday to keep the products out.
Lisa Bishop, a spokeswoman for the Chicken Farmers of Canada, said the poultry export business is worth about $125 million a year.
"We've noticed no difference in Canadian consumption. Canadians continue to take this in stride and understand that chicken is safe to eat if you cook it properly."
The export business, however, is a concern.
"That is where we are going to be taking a hit," said Bishop. "We don't know how long the bans are going to be in place. So far the effects have been fairly minimal, but the longer it goes the bigger the risk."
