Federal officials say Canada is expanding its surveillance for a dangerous form of avian flu amid a growing outbreak of H5N1 in U.S. dairy cattle, with monitoring efforts now set to include testing of milk being sold on store shelves.Workers from the Animal Protection Ministry cull chicks to contain an outbreak of bird flu at a farm in the village of Modeste, Ivory Coast, in 2015.
The CFIA had previously said that the agency was not testing any milk, but announced on Friday that Canada will now be "conducting enhanced testing of milk at the retail level" to look for any viral fragments that could signal cases appearing in dairy cattle here. In its statement, the CFIA said Canada is also expanding its surveillance to manage the "possible emergence" of avian flu in cows bybeing imported from the United States to Canada and "facilitating the voluntary testing of cows" that aren't presenting with any symptoms.
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious diseases specialist with the University Health Network in Toronto, also called Friday's announcement "a step in the right direction." So far, avian influenza has been reported in 36 dairy cattle herds across nine U.S. states, plus one human case in Texas linked to the outbreaks, though scientists say there are likely more animal and human infections that haven't yet been identified.
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