Avian flu puts pressure on producers, consumers – Winnipeg | 24CA News
Harley Siemens was touring to Calgary when he obtained dangerous news from his egg farm in Manitoba.
“I got the call that there may be something wrong,” he stated.
Two and a half days later, birds in his barn examined constructive for avian influenza.
“My heart sank,” Siemens stated. “It was not a very good day.”
Read extra:
B.C. hen flu outbreak ‘concerning,’ minister says, with 10 farms now contaminated
Read More
As director of Manitoba Egg Farmers, he knew the lengthy and concerned course of that was about to observe.
Access to the farm can be monitored in an effort to forestall the illness from spreading to close by farms. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) would come to the barn, culling and disposing of all of the birds inside. Then, they’d oversee the barn’s disinfection.
The job took about two months, which Siemens says is partly as a result of CFIA responding to many constructive avian flu circumstances this fall in Manitoba and throughout Canada.
Avian influenza, generally referred to as hen flu, is a virus that infects birds and on uncommon event, people.
Outbreaks in business hen services in Canada most frequently happen in spring and fall when migratory birds carrying the illness come into contact with poultry.
According to the Government of Canada’s web site, there have been 18 contaminated premises reported this yr in Manitoba, impacting about 286,600 birds.
Avian flu outbreaks in Canada have had monumental financial tolls previously. In 2004, 19 million poultry have been culled because of outbreaks in B.C.
Dr. Sylvain Charlebois, professor of meals coverage at Dalhousie University, says Canada’s response to avian flu has advanced with analysis and expertise, and that producers are typically fast to report suspected circumstances.
“They’re more aware of biosecurity measures that they need to implement, and it’s paying off,” he stated. “We’re really avoiding a disaster, but still the disease is still out there, unfortunately, and it’s moving around pretty quickly.”
With outbreaks on the rise heading into the vacation season, Charlebois fears costs for poultry and eggs might rise even greater than the 17 and 20 per cent they’ve already this yr, respectively.
“If you need a turkey, I would probably go out and buy it right now,” he stated.
Charlebois says scientists are trying right into a vaccine for poultry to comprise the unfold of the virus, however such a remedy is a manner out but.
After the outbreak on his farm, Siemens is taking all of the precautions he can to forestall it from occurring once more.
“As long as we can stay on top of it and we make sure our biosecurity is high, and limit our interactions from barn to barn, then that’s the best we can do,” he stated.
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
