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New strain of bird flu found in British Columbia

Infection Control Monitor, May 13, 2004

Health officials found a new strain of bird flu on a farm near Vancouver, but they may never learn whether the antibodies discovered are from the same virus strain that killed 23 people in Asia, the Associated Press reports.

Samples taken from a goose and duck farm have not yet been tested because a spring snowstorm closed the airport in Winnipeg, the location of Canada's national microbiology laboratory.

Officials suspect the antibodies come from the H5 type of avian flu, but without any samples of the actual virus, it will be difficult to determine the exact strain.

The H5 strain jumped to humans earlier this year in Asia, killing 23 in Thailand and Vietnam and causing the slaughter of millions of fowl in 10 countries. In British Columbia, the less severe H7 strain was found in February, leading to the planned killing of 19 million chickens, turkeys, and other birds.

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