Authorities have placed eight poultry farms in southwestern Ontario under quarantine as they scramble to contain an outbreak of a bird flu virus found on a turkey farm near Woodstock.

The outbreak was discovered after birds on the turkey farm started to die late last week.

So far 7,500 turkeys on the farm have died.

An official from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the remaining birds in the flock of 12,000 will be euthanized humanely.

CFIA vice-president Paul Mayers says preliminary testing shows the virus is of the H5 subtype, but additional tests are being done to determine the full subtype.

That testing should reveal whether this outbreak is caused by an H5N2 virus that lately has been hopscotching among poultry operations in a number of U.S. states.

The testing will also show whether the virus is a highly pathogenic avian flu virus or a virus of low pathogenicity. But given the high mortality at the index farm, it seems likely this is a high-path virus.

H5 viruses are among two subtypes of bird flu that have the capacity to become highly pathogenic, which means they can decimate poultry flocks. As a consequence, international trade rules allow countries to levy sanctions when outbreaks of high-path bird flu are discovered.

That process has started. Mayers says Japan and Taiwan have already barred poultry from Ontario in response to this outbreak.

Meanwhile, 10 countries continue to ban poultry from Canada because of the H5N2 outbreak that hit British Columbia’s Fraser River Valley late last year.

Avian flu

Here are five key things to know about bird flu and its various forms:

What is bird flu?

It’s a broad category of illnesses that all originate with the Type A Influenza Virus and can infect birds including chickens, ducks, geese and turkeys. All versions of the flu contain two types of protein — “H” protein and “N” protein. Since there are 16 H types and nine N types, 144 distinct variations of bird flu are possible. The vast majority of these are classified as low pathogenic, meaning they have little to no impact on infected birds.

Are people at risk?

Yes, in rare cases. H5 and H7 types of bird flu are the ones most likely to mutate and become serious enough to be infectious to humans. Historically, people have been at risk primarily if they were in close contact with infected birds.

What was the worst Canadian bird flu outbreak?

It took place in 2004 when a high-path strain of H7N3 spread to 42 commercial farms and 11 backyard coups in B.C.’s Fraser Valley. Ottawa ordered the slaughter of 17 million chickens, turkeys and other domestic birds.

Is there an active bird flu pandemic right now?

No, but 2015 has been an active year for diagnoses of the H5N2 strain. A total of 11 farms in B.C. reported cases of the virus starting late last year. In the U.S., H5N2 outbreaks among turkeys from Minnesota and South Dakota have led to the slaughter of more than 300,000 birds.

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Should I stop eating chicken, turkey and other poultry?

It’s not necessary. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says bird flu does not pose a risk to consumers if poultry meat is properly handled and cooked.

Source: The Canadian Press, Canadian Food Inspection Agency