Canada

Tests have confirmed an outbreak of bird flu at a turkey farm near Vancouver, but it appeared to be a less virulent strain and posed little risk to humans, officials said on Jan. 24. More than 50,000 birds on the Abbotsford, British Columbia, farm will be destroyed to ensure the avian influenza virus does not spread to other farms, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said. Tests on sickened birds showed they had H5 avian influenza, but it will be another day or more before the exact strain of the virus is known and its pathogenicity, the agency said. (Reuters)