The increase in the number of outbreaks of a “highly pathogenic” strain of avian influenza in Nova Scotia and the United States is putting Canadian producers, including those in Quebec, on the alert.
The Quebec poultry industry is “in vigilance mode,” says Martin Pelletier, director general of the Quebec Poultry Disease Control Team, an organization that ensures the prevention, containment and eradication of poultry diseases. He adds in the same breath that he is not currently “in panic mode”.
Frequent communications with its members — egg producers, poultry farmers and food processing companies — keep them informed of the evolution of outbreak cases, which have increased in recent weeks in North America.
On Monday, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) confirmed the presence of “highly pathogenic” avian influenza of the H5N1 subtype on a mixed farm in Nova Scotia. Nearly 12,000 turkeys had to be euthanized.
This case adds to other infections detected in Newfoundland and Labrador as well as in wild birds. To stem the spread of the disease, the CFIA imposed restrictions on the “movement” of poultry between regions and recommended the tightening of biosecurity measures.
Devastation elsewhere in the world
The particularity of the current strain lies in its “highly pathogenic” character, explains Martin Pelletier. Wild birds carrying it may die, which is not usually the case. In addition, it “has been wreaking havoc for several months in Europe and elsewhere in the world”, he recalls.
Indeed, many outbreaks have been detected in Europe since August. Thirty countries are affected by the epizootic on the Old Continent, including nearly 300 outbreaks in Italy alone, according to recent statistics from the French Ministry of Agriculture.
“We, in Quebec, over the years, there have already been sporadic detections in wild birds, but there have never been cases in breeding flocks, neither in backyards nor in commercial farms,” says Martin Pelletier.
The emergency measures put in place in Canada earlier this week prompted countries to adopt temporary restrictive measures against Canadian imports, mainly against poultry products from Nova Scotia.
How did this European strain arrive in the country? Nothing is certain for the moment, replies Martin Pelletier: “One of the hypotheses put forward is that a big storm in the Atlantic Ocean this fall could have caused European birds to drift towards America. But it’s only an hypothesis. »
In the United States, the number of infected flocks and birds far exceeds that of Canada. The first cases of bird flu were confirmed at an Indiana farm on February 9, and nearly 30,000 turkeys had to be euthanized.
Earlier this week, U.S. health officials said the same strain of influenza had been detected on another farm in Indiana, but also on a mixed herd in Virginia as well as a herd of farm in Kentucky that belongs to Tyson Foods, an American food giant.
the USA Today reported that this Tyson facility alone had nearly 246,000 chickens. Of this number, we do not know how many will be euthanized. Tyson Foods told the Daily that its team is working to prevent the spread with increased biosecurity measures and facility access restrictions.