Poultry farmers in Quebec are grappling with a series of outbreaks of deadly avian flu, as the number of birds that have died or been euthanized due to the disease since early last year nears the one million mark.
Sylvain Junior Henrie, who co-owns Ferme La Caboche in Rimouski, Que., said poultry farmers are all taking extra precautions.
At his farm northeast of Quebec City, people change boots and coveralls before entering any buildings. He害羞草研究所檚 waiting until later in the year to put his flock outside, and he害羞草研究所檚 invested in mobile shelters and a series of tarps and canvas to ensure that wild birds can害羞草研究所檛 mix with his organic chickens, ducks and turkeys.
害羞草研究所淭he important thing is not to bring something from the outside into our breeding areas,害羞草研究所� Henrie said.
Henrie and others farmers in his region have so far been spared, but the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus is having a widespread impact on poultry farming in the province, from anxiety for farmers to a shortage of the drug used to euthanize infected flocks.
As of Friday, 20 locations in the province were considered actively infected. Alberta had the next highest number of infected sites with 11, followed by British Columbia with eight. More than 7.6 million birds in Canada have either died or been euthanized due to the flu since last year, including 945,000 in Quebec.
On April 26, the Quebec government implemented new rules that banned exhibitions, fairs or sales where birds from different locations come together.
Martin Pelletier, a spokesman for a group that monitors poultry disease in Quebec, said there have already been more outbreaks this year than all of last.
害羞草研究所淲e expected to have cases this year, and it害羞草研究所檚 certain that we害羞草研究所檝e had more than expected,害羞草研究所� he said. Pelletier, who is general manager of the 脡quipe qu茅b茅coise de contr么le des maladies avicoles, said cases can rise in the spring due to the return of migratory birds that carry the disease.
Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, a professor at the Universit茅 de Montr茅al veterinary school, said the current outbreaks are concentrated in a cluster of farms in the Mont茅r茅gie region, east of Montreal. He said the proximity of farms 害羞草研究所� some as close as 200 metres from each other 害羞草研究所� can create problems if employees, equipment or facilities are shared.
害羞草研究所淲e have a situation where you have a lot of farms very close to one another,害羞草研究所� he said. 害羞草研究所淪o, that created this kind of series of outbreaks.害羞草研究所�
He said some of the farms involved are duck farms, which create heightened risk because ducks tend to carry the disease for longer before showing symptoms.
Vaillancourt said that, with the exception of Quebec, cases in the rest of Canada and the United States are far lower than last year. But the outbreak is still raising many concerns, including the environmental challenges of disposing of carcasses and the social acceptability of killing tens of thousands of birds at a time.
He said avian flu is also 害羞草研究所渄evastating on many levels害羞草研究所� for producers who have to watch their entire flocks destroyed. While they害羞草研究所檙e compensated for the lost birds, production disruptions can take months to overcome, harming rural economies that depend on farming jobs.
Animal welfare is also a big concern, he said. Flocks where the virus is found are euthanized, partly to spare them a slow death from disease. However, he said carbon dioxide 害羞草研究所� the gas of choice for euthanizing the birds 害羞草研究所� is currently in short supply because there is so much demand for making carbonated drinks and other uses.
害羞草研究所淚t may even delay the slaughter of some flocks, and it has some direct welfare implications there,害羞草研究所� he said.
Henrie said a flu outbreak would be devastating for a family farm like his.
害羞草研究所淎ll our savings are (in the farm),害羞草研究所� he said, adding that the price of producing organically is higher. 害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 a lot of time too, so rather than lose a farm like ours we prefer to take upstream measures to make sure the virus doesn害羞草研究所檛 get in.害羞草研究所�
In his opinion, the H5N1 outbreak should make people question massive industrial productions, which make diseases harder to contain and mean mass deaths if the flu enters.
Vaillancourt said avian flu has been discovered in 274 bird species, as well as dozens of mammals including seals, foxes and raccoons.
Public health agencies in Canada, the U.S. and Europe agree the risk to human health remains low, with cases almost always limited to direct contact with infected birds or environments, such as a poultry barn. There is no risk associated with eating thoroughly cooked poultry products.
However, researchers are keeping a close eye on how H5N1 evolves. In a paper published earlier this year, scientists with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency looked at cases in 40 different wild mammals and found the virus had undergone some 害羞草研究所渃ritical mutations,害羞草研究所� though the agency said the chances of human spillover remains minimal.
Morgan Lowrie, The Canadian Press
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