July 12, 2004

 

 

British Columbia Chicken Industry Begins Recovery From Avian Flu

 

British Columbia's chicken industry has entered the "recovery phase" following the avian flu epidemic that severely dented the province's poultry market. After depopulating B.C. chicken barns in June, farmers in high-risk areas have begun restocking their barns.

 

"Effectively the response is in its recovery phase," said Canadian Chicken Farmers spokeswoman Lisa Bishop. "All of the sites in the area where we had avian influenza have been cleaned and disinfected, thereby minimizing the risks that are posed."

 

Bishop said other measures were being used to curb the risk of further infection, including surveillance from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

 

Even with no new cases reported in B.C., Bishop said the industry will be on pins and needles until the CFIA sends the word that the avian flu crisis is fully resolved.

 

"We don't want to categorically say that it's over," Bishop said, "but we're certainly optimistic that the Canadian Food Inspection Agency is working with the best scientific evidence to be able to publicly indicate that the recovery phase is the phase that we're in now."

 

Chicken farmers in the high-risk areas of B.C. will be allowed to restock their barns on Friday, provided no new cases of infection arise. Farmers in low-risk areas have already begun restocking barns.

 

About 16 million chickens were depopulated from B.C. barns during the avian flu scare. Despite the concern, Bishop said about 80% of B.C. chickens were found to be free of disease and were sent to market.

 

Although the vast majority of B.C.'s chickens were found to be safe for consumption, the industry felt the sting from the 20% loss of chickens. The loss was compensated by leasing out chicken production quotas to farmers in other provinces, where they were then slaughtered and shipped to B.C. processing plants. However, because most Canadian chicken farmers were already operating at full capacity, chicken meat had to be imported from the United States to fill the gap.

 

But it was not just chicken producers who were hurt by the avian flu scare. The chicken feed industry was also damaged by the outbreak, which led to the closure of two major B.C. feed plants - Landmark Feeds and Master Feeds, said Bruce Cook, secretary of the B.C. division of the Animal Nutrition Association of Canada.

 

But Cook said the restocking of B.C. chicken barns has already resulted in an upswing in the poultry feed industry. "It has started within the last week or two ... it's slowly inching its way up."

 

Asked if he was surprised to see B.C. chicken barns being restocked so soon after the province's closure of barns last month, Cook said: "No. It's all due process."