The Quebec breeder Canards du Lac-Brome, which has detected cases of avian flu in three of its facilities, will have to slaughter 150,000 birds and lay off nearly 300 employees.
It will likely take 6 to 12 months, and possibly several million dollars, for the company to fully restore operations, according to chief executive Angela Anderson.
In an interview on Wednesday, Ms.me Anderson said one of the facilities affected by the H5N1 flu contained the company’s entire breeding stock, including 400,000 Pekin duck eggs that had to be destroyed.
Once the birds in the unaffected facilities are processed, the company will have to lay off staff, as there will be no new ducks.
For veterinarian Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, of the University of Montreal, the H5N1 avian flu is highly pathogenic and represents the strain most at risk with which Quebec farmers have ever been confronted.
According to him, although it does not pose much risk to humans, it is so contagious that all animals on an infected farm must be slaughtered on the spot to prevent the spread of the virus.
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