By staff of The Canadian Press
Posted on November 22, 2022 at 7:04 pm
Updated November 22, 2022 at 7:05 p.m
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Farmers in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley are facing “intense disease pressure” from an outbreak of bird flu on commercial farms that the agriculture minister says is worrying.
Lana Popham says bird flu usually lines up with bird migration seasons, but the latest infections on farms with the H5N1 virus have been consistent throughout the year.
Read more: Bird flu detected at seven Fraser Valley commercial poultry farms
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Bird flu was detected on seven commercial poultry farms in the Fraser Valley
The province said Monday that seven commercial farms in Abbotsford and Chilliwack had been quarantined with bird flu, while on Tuesday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said three more farms in the Fraser Valley tested positive for the flu
4:27 BC Poultry and egg farmers step up security measures to protect their birds from bird flu
Popham says the federal Canadian Food Inspection Agency takes the initiative when a farm reports an infection, but BC’s chief veterinarian has been proactive in helping prevent the spread of the disease.
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He says the testing lab works seven days a week with a capacity for about 300 tests a day.
Read more: Bird flu fighters in BC face unprecedented challenge as H5N1 spreads across Canada
The minister says the inspection agency has protocols in place to deal with infected farms and this often means “depopulation” or the herds will be culled.
He says the situation is not as bad as it was in 2004, when 17 million farm birds were destroyed.
“And we hope it doesn’t come to that,” Popham added.
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