The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported the outbreak of the H5 virus last week and is asking all farmers to check bird populations and report any sick or dead animals.
CFIA disease control specialist Sandra Stephens said this year's outbreak does not appear to be as severe as a 2004 incident which caused the euthanization of more than 1 million birds in the country.
"In 2004 the initial diagnosis of pathogenicity was determined to be low. But it rapidly went from low path to high path," she said. "That's quite different than what we are seeing in this particular situation where it appears to be a low pathogenic form and right now we see no evidence it has changed to a high path."
If there are no signs of the virus spreading, the quarantine which has been levied on the area and affects 23 farms, could be lifted in as little as 21 days.
This type of avian flu is rarely transferred to humans and does not necessarily point to an outbreak of the H5N1 virus which killed five people in China this year.
