Canada expanded its quarantine of poultry farms in westernmost British Columbia province Thursday after learning that an outbreak of avian influenza has spread.

Both farms are close to one of the original two that were first to be quarantined on December 2 after they tested positive for bird flu, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said in a statement.

In total, eight properties have so far been impacted, and a ninth is being monitored for the H5N2 virus.

Several countries, including the United States, temporarily suspended imports of Canadian poultry and eggs after the finds.

Testing was undertaken after the original two farms experienced an unexpectedly high number of sudden bird deaths in one weekend.

Chickens and turkeys have been euthanized on four of the affected farms. The rest will be depopulated in the coming days, officials said.

Egypt reports eighth bird flu death this year
Cairo (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 - Health authorities in Egypt on Thursday reported the country's eighth death this year from bird flu.

"A woman of 33 originally from Sohag province (in the south) has died of the H5N1 virus," health ministry spokesman Hossam Abdel Ghafar told AFP.

He said another person is still being treated, and added that seven patients diagnosed this year with bird flu were cured.

The H5N1 strain has killed more than 400 people worldwide since first appearing in 2003, mainly in Southeast Asia.

It is one of several deadly or potentially deadly strains of bird flu that are closely monitored by the World Health Organisation.

The strain is different from the H5N8 version, whose spread on European poultry farms has prompted WHO calls for vigilance.

A third strain of bird flu -- H7N9 -- has killed more than 170 people since emerging in 2013.