Bird Flu Found In Canada

Today Canadian officials announced they have found an infected bird. They are quick to say that it is not the strain that is in Asia, but tests this weekend will confirm or deny that.

(Reuters)A Canadian health official said there was a low risk of humans contracting any illness from the case of an infected gosling found in a small backyard poultry flock on the province of Prince Edward Island.

U.S. industry sources said testing may show the gosling did not have the same deadly strain of bird flu that has spread overseas. Even if it does, they said the disease should be eradicated fairly quickly.

Uhm, I hope so. But if it was that easy to "eradicate" would it be that big of a deal in Asia then?

"If it is a backyard flock it should be pretty easy to clean up," said Paul Aho, an economist for the U.S.-based Poultry Perspective, a poultry industry consulting firm.

Should it be H5N1, Aho said countries could ban Canadian chicken. But he said that should not be a severe blow because Canada is not a major chicken exporter.

"It is a bad thing, but I wouldn't expect North American consumers to react the way Europeans did. I would not expect any panic over this," said Aho.

Really, I think people who have been following this will react in the way they see fit. I also think the chicken industry will suffer if this "backyard flock" is positive for H5N1.