Canada to Slaughter 19 Million Birds

Canada said it would slaughter 19 million chickens, turkeys and other poultry in British Columbia's Fraser Valley to halt the spread of bird flu.

Avian influenza has been diagnosed on 18 poultry farms and officials said the cull would cover 15 million chickens on about 600 farms.

Although the strain of the virus does not cause serious illness in humans, one health official said the government wants to eradicate it before it mutates into a more dangerous strain.