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Mad cow.Bird flu. What next? Tainted pig?

Published on Sun, Jan 1, 2006
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Mad cow. Bird flu. What next? Tainted pig?

The border is still closed to uncooked chicken to stop the spread of avian flu after a strain of the virus was discovered in a duck in the Fraser Valley.

“When bird flu is discovered in various countries we stop importation,” said customs and border protection representative Mike Milne.

Canadian officials confirmed November 20 the strain of virus found in the B.C. duck was a low-pathogenic North American stain, different from the strain that is circulating in Asia with the potential to infect humans and different from the strain that led to the slaughter of millions of birds in the Abbotsford area last year. Nevertheless the Canadian Food Inspection Agency planned to depopulate the farm where the infected duck was found to prevent the virus from spreading.

To stop the flu spreading into the U.S. local ports of entry are stopping the importation of live or raw poultry products which includes pet birds and raw eggs.