#18,428
In less than a month Canada's Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has identified 45 HPAI H5 poultry outbreaks, with all but 4 of those coming from British Columbia. This comes after more than 6 months without a reported outbreak.
All of this comes as British Columbia is also reporting the first locally acquired human case of HPAI H5 in Canada, affecting a teenager from the Fraser Valley region. The patient's condition hasn't been updated since early last week, but at last report was in critical condition.
The genotype was identified as D1.1 last week, the same as recently infected > 12 poultry workers in Washington State. There have also been reports of ambiguous mutations at several key sites (Q226 and E190) in the HA gene, but their significance - and when they occurred - isn't clear.
Hopefully they'll be able to rerun these tests, and clarify these findings.
Last Wednesday, the count stood at 31 infected premises. Today's addition to the list follow.
The rapid rise in outbreaks in British Columbia, along with recent detections in previously unaffected regions - like Hawaii and Arizona - remind us of the strength of this fall's incursion of the virus, and importance of continued biosecurity on all farms, including backyard poultry.
