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Sask. bird flu case highlights need to be prepared: official
Though the bird flu virus that has emerged at a Saskatchewan poultry farm isn't the same strain that has killed 200 people in 12 countries, it has highlighted Canada's need to be prepared for a possible pandemic.
Last week, the Pedigree Poultry farm, about 40 kilometres north of Regina, reported it had avian flu. While not the deadly H5N1 that first jumped from chickens to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, the strain is the highly pathogenic H7N3.
Ottawa has stockpiled 55 million doses of antiviral drugs, funded new research into new vaccines and prepared detailed emergency plans, according to a government health official. Ottawa has stockpiled 55 million doses of antiviral drugs, funded new research into new vaccines and prepared detailed emergency plans, according to a government health official.
(CBC)
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency completed the euthanization of 50,000 chickens at the farm on Sunday and began burying the bodies earlier this week. All farms within a 10-mile radius are also under supervision, and an adjacent farm has been placed under quarantine.
H7N3 was behind a 2004 outbreak in British Columbia that saw 17 million chickens destroyed. It is not dangerous to humans.
The outbreak has again put the prospect of a pandemic in the spotlight.
Canada is taking the pandemic issue very seriously, said Arlene King, director general for pandemic preparedness at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
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"In budget 2006, the federal government allocated $1 billion for avian and pandemic influenza response," she told CBC News Tuesday.
King said Ottawa has also stockpiled 55 million doses of antiviral drugs, funded new research into new vaccines and prepared detailed emergency plans.
Sudden acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, provided a test run of Canada's ability to respond to a major health emergency, she said.
Hong Kong: lessons learned
What's happening in Saskatchewan is a fraction of what occurred in Hong Kong. Since a large avian flu outbreak there in 1997, big changes have been enacted.
For one, poultry farmers now have to comply with new regulations governing the way they handle chickens and waterfowl.
And frequent testing is undertaken to ensure the virus isn't present, with 300,000 samples taken of domestic and imported poultry every year.
Dr. Kwok-young Yuen, a researcher at Hong Kong University, said that in addition to funding studies of avian flu, Hong Kong's government has spent $400 million on pandemic flu preparedness, undertaking projects such as the construction of a new infectious disease center to vaccinating every chicken in Hong Kong.
Yuen is convinced avian flu will strike again and that there is much at stake once that occurs. "Think about the economic consequence of SARS," he said. "Suddenly, everything stopped because you have a contagious disease of reasonably high mortality."
"Suddenly, your country may lose one per cent of GDP. The terror that is being induced is a disruption to the economy and travel."
Though the bird flu virus that has emerged at a Saskatchewan poultry farm isn't the same strain that has killed 200 people in 12 countries, it has highlighted Canada's need to be prepared for a possible pandemic.
Last week, the Pedigree Poultry farm, about 40 kilometres north of Regina, reported it had avian flu. While not the deadly H5N1 that first jumped from chickens to humans in Hong Kong in 1997, the strain is the highly pathogenic H7N3.
Ottawa has stockpiled 55 million doses of antiviral drugs, funded new research into new vaccines and prepared detailed emergency plans, according to a government health official. Ottawa has stockpiled 55 million doses of antiviral drugs, funded new research into new vaccines and prepared detailed emergency plans, according to a government health official.
(CBC)
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency completed the euthanization of 50,000 chickens at the farm on Sunday and began burying the bodies earlier this week. All farms within a 10-mile radius are also under supervision, and an adjacent farm has been placed under quarantine.
H7N3 was behind a 2004 outbreak in British Columbia that saw 17 million chickens destroyed. It is not dangerous to humans.
The outbreak has again put the prospect of a pandemic in the spotlight.
Canada is taking the pandemic issue very seriously, said Arlene King, director general for pandemic preparedness at the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Continue Article
"In budget 2006, the federal government allocated $1 billion for avian and pandemic influenza response," she told CBC News Tuesday.
King said Ottawa has also stockpiled 55 million doses of antiviral drugs, funded new research into new vaccines and prepared detailed emergency plans.
Sudden acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, provided a test run of Canada's ability to respond to a major health emergency, she said.
Hong Kong: lessons learned
What's happening in Saskatchewan is a fraction of what occurred in Hong Kong. Since a large avian flu outbreak there in 1997, big changes have been enacted.
For one, poultry farmers now have to comply with new regulations governing the way they handle chickens and waterfowl.
And frequent testing is undertaken to ensure the virus isn't present, with 300,000 samples taken of domestic and imported poultry every year.
Dr. Kwok-young Yuen, a researcher at Hong Kong University, said that in addition to funding studies of avian flu, Hong Kong's government has spent $400 million on pandemic flu preparedness, undertaking projects such as the construction of a new infectious disease center to vaccinating every chicken in Hong Kong.
Yuen is convinced avian flu will strike again and that there is much at stake once that occurs. "Think about the economic consequence of SARS," he said. "Suddenly, everything stopped because you have a contagious disease of reasonably high mortality."
"Suddenly, your country may lose one per cent of GDP. The terror that is being induced is a disruption to the economy and travel."