--- title: Avian Flu Outbreak In British Columbia Spreads To Seven Farms description: The virus has affected 155,000 birds in the past week canonical: https://time.com/3631176/avian-influenza-british-columbia-vancouver/ author: Rishi Iyengar article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-12-12T03:28:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T02:48:07.040Z article:section: Health og:title: Canada Has Bird Flu og:description: A sudden outbreak of avian influenza in British Columbia is spreading fast. og:url: https://time.com/3631176/avian-influenza-british-columbia-vancouver/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Canada Has Bird Flu twitter:description: A sudden outbreak of avian influenza in British Columbia is spreading fast. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Avian Flu Outbreak in British Columbia Spreads to Seven Farms by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Dec 12, 2014 3:28 AM UTC by [Rishi Iyengar](https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/) ## Rishi Iyengar Dec 12, 2014 3:28 AM UTC A sudden spike in avian influenza cases in British Columbia in the past week has [now spread](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3c4f360fed664c0ba603a342f044d35f/avian-flu-spreading-southwest-british-columbia) to seven farms and affected thousands of birds, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency. Some 155,000 birds have either died or will be euthanized, the Associated Press reports. The outbreak originated in the Fraser Valley near Vancouver last week, where turkeys and chickens from two farms tested positive for the H5N2 strain of the virus. Although the bug does not pose a major threat to humans as long as the meat from these birds is cooked properly, its sudden resurgence a huge blow to the region’s poultry industry. \[[_AP_](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/3c4f360fed664c0ba603a342f044d35f/avian-flu-spreading-southwest-british-columbia)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3631176/avian-influenza-british-columbia-vancouver/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3631176/avian-influenza-british-columbia-vancouver/"},"headline":"Avian Flu Outbreak in British Columbia Spreads to Seven Farms","datePublished":"2014-12-12T03:28:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T02:48:07.040Z","description":"The virus has affected 155,000 birds in the past week","url":"https://time.com/3631176/avian-influenza-british-columbia-vancouver/","keywords":["infectious diseases","Canada","Turkey","Chicken","poultry"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Rishi Iyengar","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/rishi-iyengar/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/infectious-diseases/","name":"infectious diseases"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3631176/avian-influenza-british-columbia-vancouver/","name":"Avian Flu Outbreak in British Columbia Spreads to Seven Farms"}}]}] ```