June 19, 2006

US poultry industry unfazed by bird flu in Canada

The latest case of bird flu reported in Canada on Friday (Jun 16) poses little risk to US poultry or consumers, poultry industry sources said.

The first step is to find out what type of H5 it is, said Richard Lobb, spokesman for the National Chicken Council, noting that the H5 flu is common in geese and ducks.

The infected gosling was found in a small backyard poultry flock on the province of Prince Edward Island.

US sources said the disease should be eradicated fairly quickly if it proves to be the deadly H5N1 virus.

Since it is a backyard flock it should be fairly easy to clean up, said Paul Aho, an economist for the US-based Poultry Perspective.

Since Canada is not a major chicken exporter, a ban on its poultry products if H5N1 was discovered would not have significant impact, he said.