April 5, 2004

 

 

Canada Bird Flu Out Of Control

 

The bird flu situation in Canada is getting from bad to worse with federal official admitting the outbreak in British Columbia is virtually out of control.

 

"This disease is spreading and spreading quickly," Dr. Brian Evans of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said.

 

"We cannot be certain at this time that we are on top of the situation."

 

As the number of farms infected with the flu rose to 18, federal Agriculture Minister Bob Speller has said he is considering exterminating as many as 18 million chickens and turkeys in the Lower Mainland.

 

Speller said he would discuss the proposal with his officials, as well as any compensation package sought by the industry.

 

In Alberta, farmers are bracing for the worst.

 

Aaron Falkenberg, chairman of the Alberta Chicken producers, said producers are taking every precaution to head off contamination.

 

"We're certainly treating this very seriously and have taken steps to make sure this doesn't come over here," he said.

 

Alberta agriculture representatives were not available for comment late Saturday.

 

CFIA crews continued Saturday to depopulate the 18 flocks found with the avian virus.

 

Rick Thiessen, president of the B.C. Chicken Growers Association, said the industry has proposed "a phased depopulation" of the entire Fraser Valley after seeing that likely federal containment measures would encompass all the hatcheries in the Lower Mainland, effectively shutting down production.

 

"It was not a very easy decision for our industry to make," said Thiessen. adding the long-term implications are "significant."

 

"We will do this, but we will do it in a way that ensures avian influenza does not spread," said CFIA veterinarian Dr. Cornelius Kiley.

 

The CFIA believes the disease has been carried from farm to farm by people within the industry, and that it can be halted by following proper biosecurity protocols.

 

Meanwhile, chicken farmers live in dread of the disease's spread.

 

Outbreaks of avian flu at farms near Corney Dueck's farm have endangered his 20,000 healthy chickens -- and his family's business, he said.

 

"We are in the hot zone," said Dueck, 69, Saturday. "We're in the middle of it. We could lose everything."

 

Chicken farmer Audrey Neufeld says her barns have been emptied of broiler chickens for a month, and she's now fallen back on her retail trade until the dust settles.

 

She said the flu outbreak has "devastated" the local poultry community.

 

"It's very, very hurtful" to the poultry farmers, she said, that local supermarkets no longer carry their chicken breasts on shelves.

 

Not only the farms, but the feed mills, processors, drivers, sawdust suppliers, hatcheries and retailers are affected, she said. "It's a huge amount of people."

 

At Farm Fed, which processes poultry for 30 healthy Abbotsford farms in the Fraser Valley, staff are working 18 hours a day, slaughtering healthy birds and shipping them to market before the farms too are caught up in the hot zone.

 

Saturday, turkeys bound for Easter dinner were spending their final moments, while spokesman Ken Huttema said to prevent infected birds being processed, blood testing is done on all birds four days before they reach Farm Fed.

 

"Every one of them could be affected."

 

The industry's plan calls for a gradual depopulation taking some six weeks with healthy flocks being processed for eating in the normal way. Where disease is found, the flocks would be destroyed and incinerated.

 

After the last flock has gone, and the last farms disinfected, there would be a 21-day waiting period to ensure the disease has gone.

 

Thiessen said repopulating the Fraser Valley could begin in six months, with full production having to wait 24 to 30 months.

 

Provincial Agriculture Minster John van Dongen said he supported the industry's call.

 

"For it to work effectively I think the CFIA knows they need everyone a party to the decision ... that everybody believes it will work."

 

Dr. Danuta Skowronski of the B.C. Centre for Disease Control said avian flu is not a threat to people provided they don't eat raw chicken and wash their hands.

 

"If (avian flu) is going to happen, it's first going to happen in the people who have the closest contact," said Skowronski.

 

So far two mild forms of H7 avian flu have been found on people working or cleaning farms.

 

Both have recovered.