Avian Flu Found on 2d Farm in Canada's British Columbia

Health authorities found a second bird infected with "a low pathogenic case" of avian flu, on a farm in the Fraser Valley of British Columbia in western Canada. The birds on the farm are to be "culled" -- lovely euphemism -- according to a GlobeandMail.com article.

Another article says that The US government has placed an interim ban on poultry imports from British Columbia, to the consternation of the Chicken Farmers of Canada. Some 70,000 ducks and geese are being put to death to prevent the flu from spreading among the birds at the commercial farm. An outbreak of H7N3 avian flu 2004 resulted in the slaughter of 17 million birds in the Fraser Valley.

As far as I know, these cases -- "low pathogenic" or not -- are the first to reach North America. It will be interesting to see if the source can be determined.