The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says it has identified additional outbreaks of avian influenza in Strathroy, Ontario. area, bringing the total number announced in the past two weeks to four.
The most recent outbreak was discovered Friday after highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) was confirmed at a commercial poultry farm in the region, the CFIA said on its website.
It is unclear how many birds may be affected by this latest outbreak.
This comes two days after an outbreak was declared on Wednesday affecting at least 15,469 turkeys, the CFIA said in a statement.
The CFIA did not provide the name or exact location of the farm affected by the outbreak, but said it was approximately five kilometers from the two farms affected by the outbreak. last week And earlier this week.
Those two previous outbreaks affected approximately 32,000 turkeys and 15,600 turkeys, respectively, bringing the total number of birds affected to at least 63,069, a number expected to increase after Friday's outbreak, according to the CFIA.
“All affected birds will be humanely dehumanized and disposed of in accordance with all necessary provincial requirements,” the CFIA said Friday, adding that a single source has not been identified.
These four outbreaks are the only active outbreaks of avian influenza in Ontario.
To prevent the spread, the CFIA established two primary control zones, PCZ-302 and PCZ-308, for the four outbreaks. Collectively they cover most of Strathroy-Caradoc and parts of Adelaide Metcalfe, Chippewas of Thames First Nation, Middlesex Center and southwest Middlesex.
According to the agency, the movement of birds, their products and any by-products requires a permit to enter, exit, within or through the ZCZ. When it is determined that the disease is no longer in the affected area, PKZ can be canceled.
CBC News reached out to several poultry associations but were referred to the Feather Board Command Center (FBCC). which coordinates the Ontario poultry industry's response to disease risks.
“SFAI is not a food safety issue—it is a livestock health issue. As such, we take this issue very seriously and are working with the CFIA and our provincial councils to ensure the health of our birds,” said Maggie Watson-Sparks, CEO of the FBCC, in an emailed statement.
The CFIA says many factors may contribute to the presence of avian influenza in an area, including the migration of wild birds, with the risk to poultry increasing during the migratory season.
As cases of bird flu on commercial farms in the Fraser Valley continue to rise, chicken farmers are struggling to find ways to protect their animals. As CBC's Cyrus Yunos reports, that includes testing new technologies to prevent the spread of the disease.
The dominant strain of H5N1 is highly contagious and can spread quickly through a flock of poultry, said Beth McDougall-Shackleton, a biology professor at Western University who specializes in the disease ecology of migratory birds.
“Once there is contact between an infected wild bird, usually a waterfowl such as a duck or goose, and something passing by during migration, serious problems can arise if the wild birds live in the same bodies of water as domestic flocks,” or share the same food, she said.
“Once it appears, it really needs to be eradicated. Ideally, we would prevent it from infecting farm animals in the first place, but that requires very strict and careful biosecurity measures,” she said. This includes changing leg covers to prevent feces from infected wild birds from entering the farm.
In rare cases, H5N1 can cause illness in humans, and transmission occurred when people had close contact with infected birds or heavily contaminated environments such as farm workers, the CFIA said.
McDougall-Shackleton said human-to-human transmission of the virus had not been observed, but this is always a concern, making it all the more important to minimize the spread between wild and domestic birds.
Strathroy-Caradoc is home to several large poultry processing companies, including Burnbrae Farms and Cuddy Farms, which is the municipality's largest employer.
In an emailed statement, Burnbrae Farms confirmed that none of the farms supplying eggs to the company's Strathroy sorting station were among those affected by bird flu.
“We take this very seriously,” said Sue Hudson, senior director of digital marketing and communications at Burnbrae.
A request to Cuddy Farms, which has poultry farms in the contaminated area, was not returned by press time.
The London area has previously seen outbreaks of bird flu, including one in February at the Middlesex Centre, which was canceled on May 8th.
There was also an outbreak announced January 3 in North Middlesex, and in December four flashes were stated in the town of Zorra and two in Strathroy–Caradoc.
Since the start of 2022, a total of 615 outbreaks have been reported in Canada, affecting approximately 16.6 million birds.
