The Avian flu was confirmed on a farm on the Avalon Peninsula just before Christmas and several hundred birds had to be done away with. Now, the virus has been discovered at another backyard farm in the area yesterday.
The city of St. John’s is also warning residents not to feed, handle or touch any birds, including gulls, ducks and pigeons.
Andrew Lang, a professor in the department of biology at Memorial University, says it’s very important that people witch chickens and the like do what they can to prevent the virus from spreading to their fowl.
He says we don’t yet know of the extent of spread in the region.
Environment and Climate Change scientists are sampling wild birds right now, and they’ll be tested at the Canadian Food inspection Agency.
So within a few weeks, we should have some idea of how widespread it is in the area, says Lang.