In a follow-up to the report of an H5 avian influenza detection on a Woodstock, Ontario farm a couple of days ago, Canadian officials are now reporting the bird flu strain is the highly pathogenic H5N2 virus.
According to a CTV News report, Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) vice-president Paul Mayers noted Canada would inform the World Organization for Animal Health, known as the OIE, about the finding.
The H5N2 avian influenza strain is the same that hit several farms in British Columbia late last year and has been reported in a number of U.S. states this year.
South of the border, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) has confirmed the presence of highly pathogenic H5N2 avian influenza (HPAI) in a commercial turkey flock in Meeker County, Minnesota.
The Star Tribune reports the farm was a Hormel turkey farm.
This is the ninth confirmation in a commercial flock in Minnesota. The flock of 310,000 turkeys is located within the Mississippi flyway where this strain of avian influenza has previously been identified.
