50,000 birds destroyed at Canadian farm because of Avian flu - USDA closes border

[Pleye]

They seized these birds at a port about 30 miles from here.

Wait, I didn't catch this the first time. They did not seize the 50,000 birds at a port.....the farm where the flu was found was shut down and the 50,000 were ordered destroyed there.

They have said that the border is closed to hunters bringing back birds now. Maybe that is what you heard?

[House of Light]

They have said that the border is closed to hunters bringing back birds now. Maybe that is what you heard?

Sorry, I wasn't more clear on my post.....we live 30 miles from a port, and they are stopping US hunters(MN and ND ports) and seizing waterfowl. I think the hunting ban that had been established for a few days has been lifted. But, the main gripe of the hunters is that the birds taken from them have been thrown into garbage trucks to bring to the landfill. So, it kind of made the rest of us:idunno scratch our heads. They are pilling these birds into a landfill without destroying them.....

I do believe that the ban has been lifted for hunters(since the birds could easily fly over the border......) and that they pose little or no risk(hence the the throwing into the landfill.....you just don't do that for things that can be so very dangerous.....you burn those.)

[lisaann]

Birds get the avian flu all of the time. It only becomes a danger to us when it mutates to a form that we can catch.

Avian flu has always been a problem with poultry farmers. Many farmers have gone out of business in years past because of it. It happens. :idunno We are dairy farmers and about 10 years ago I tried to talk my FIL into also going into the turkey business. He woulden't do it because of how quickly the flu can wipe out $1,000's worth of flocks in no time.


Don't panic unless it mutates.

[Pleye]

I'm not concerned with us getting it, but now that you mention it, the fact that it is present increases the chance of a mutation.

I was more worried of something like this: (http://www.upc-online.org/poultry_diseases/21207flureport.html)

In 2004, the Canadian government exterminated 19 million birds to curb an avian flu outbreak in British Columbia. Farmers shot birds and left them wounded, beat them to death with sticks, electrocuted them and gassed them. Thousands of ducks were repeatedly gassed with carbon dioxide (CO2) before they would die (VHS).

19 million.....yikes! I just figured spread was a concern because of the season....

[Pleye]

Just a note....that one incident in BC represents 10% of all birds destroyed worldwide between 2003 and 2006 which was 200 million total.