Bird flu in North America?

Posted By Christine Y. Chen Wednesday, June 21, 2006 - 4:20 PM Share

goose It's amazing to me that I hadn't heard about this before today, but a strain of bird flu may have hit North America. Last week, a goose that died on Prince Edward Island, Canada, tested positive for an H5 avian flu virus. Two farms were placed under quarantine. But subsequent tests on other birds have had negative results. There's nothing to be alarmed about, though. More tests are still underway, and scientists say any H5 virus, if in fact that's what it is, is mostly like a North American strain of low pathogenicity, and not the deadly Asian H5N1 virus. So, no need to run for the hills just yet, though I wouldn't want to be a goose in Canada about now, what with "cull" becoming such a popular word.

EXPLORE:NORTH AMERICA, BIRD FLU, HEALTH

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