Officials working to determine how H5 avian flu is spreading

Canadian Food Inspection Agency officials are still working to determine how H5 avian influenza is spreading from farm to farm in souther Ontario, but saidmigratory birds may beresponsible.

A third farm in Oxford County has been infected with H5 avian influenza after the outbreak was first detected earlier this month.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed the spread of the virus Monday. The farm is within one of the two previously-established quarantine zones.

Oxford MP Dave MacKenziesaid researchers are also trying to determine exactly how avian flu travels from one bird to the next.

"It's airborne, but whether it comes in feathers or dust or whatever the case may be,"MacKenzie told CBC's Afternoon Drive. "It's a case of trying to make these farms secure from everything. It's a little bit of a needle in a haystack."

Farmers are now being encouraged to enhance theirbiosecuritymeasures,includingdisinfecting equipment on the farm, and allowing only essential personnel to enter farm buildings, according to a poultry disease management organization.

"We knowbiosecurityis the most reliable measure we have for protecting our flocks and containing the virus," saidIngridDeVisser, chair of theFeather Board Command Centre."Even though all these measures are going tohelp mitigate the movement of the disease, they may not eliminate it all together, but they are the best weapon that we have and we'll continue to fight hard with that."

MacKenziesaidthe farmers he has spoken to have so far been pleasedwith the system put in place by theCFIA.

"[The farmers] knew exactly what to do. They knew what was required of them and all the protocols immediately went into place, including the quarantine," he said.

H5 hitting U.S. hard

Both Wisconsin and Minnesota have had cases of H5 avian influenza so devastating, the states have declaredan emergency and called in the National Guard. Despite the response to the outbreak in the United States, MacKenzie insists the CFIA is taking the situation in Oxford County very seriously.

"We don't release the names for privacy reasons of where these farms are, but one of them is quite visible," he said. "The vehicles and equipment we have in place there is very significant."

The CFIA saidabout 8,000 turkeys will be euthanised on the latest infected farm, whichbrings the total number of birds destroyed as a result of this outbreak to about 80,000. DeVisser saidwhile that number seems large, it won't have much affect on the economic health of the industry.

"It's just a fraction of a percent when we look at the total production in the province," she said."I think the toll at this point is more an emotional toll on those that are in the midst of it and we need to continue to support."

Avian influenza is an infectious viral disease of birds. Most bird flu viruses do not infect humans or pose a food safety risk when poultry products are properly handled and cooked.