Bird flu confirmed at third farm in southern Ontario

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Bird flu confirmed at third farm in southern Ontario

A new strain of bird flu spreading across the United States and three Canadian provinces has now been found in poultry flocks at three southern Ontario farms, a federal agency says.

A farm in Woolwich Township north of Kitchener is the latest to be placed under quarantine, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Wednesday.

As with the two other outbreaks of the “highly pathogenic” H5N1 strain of avian flu confirmed earlier this week, the federal agency is controlling traffic on and off the farm, and recommending enhanced biosecurity measures for other farms in the surrounding area.

The bird flu was previously found at farms in Zorra Township in western Oxford County and Guelph/Eramosa Township.

That’s three outbreaks confirmed since the beginning of this week. In all three of the cases, the avian flu was found in turkey flocks, a spokesperson for the food inspection agency said.

The new strain of bird flu has also been found in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador. But the situation in Canada is not as dire as in the United States, where cases have been confirmed in almost half of the country’s states since the first outbreak in a turkey flock in Indiana in February.

The United States Department of Agriculture said the Indiana outbreak was the first case in commercial poultry in the US in two years.

Since then, the department has confirmed cases in nearly 20 states, including Maine, Michigan, Minnesota and New York. The cases have been in chickens and turkeys, as well as in non-poultry flocks. Some of the operations have more than 500,000 birds in their flocks.

“(Avian influenza) is spreading in wild bird populations across the globe and presents a significant national concern as birds migrate to Canada,” the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said.

Last week, the agency confirmed avian flu in a wild red-tailed hawk in the Waterloo area.

Ontario is the largest producer of poultry in the country, with much of the industry in Southwestern Ontario. Ontario farmers produce more than 200 million chickens a year, while Ontario turkey producers market between 85 million to 90 million kilograms of turkey annually, about 45 per cent of the total raised in Canada.

  1. A sign at the entrance to a turkey farm on Oxford County in 2015 notifies visitors of enhanced biosecurity measures following an outbreak of bird flu. A new strain of bird flu has been found at a farm near Thamesford, an industry group says. photo file

    Bird flu confirmed at Oxford County farm: industry group

  2. A Canada Food Inspection Agency vehicle sits outside of a turkey farm on Highway 2 following a bird flu outbreak in 2015. Outbreaks of the H5N1 strain of bird flu have been declared at two farms in southern Ontario, including one in the Thamesford area. (London Free Press file photo)

    High death rate alerted federal agency to bird flu at area farm: Industry group

Ontario’s Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs says bird flu is not a threat to food safety when proper handling and cooking occur.

It also says avian influenza is not a significant public health concern for healthy people who are not in regular contact with infected birds.

In 2015, three farms in Oxford County were hit with outbreaks of an H5N2 strain of avian flu. About 80,000 birds, mainly turkeys, were wiped out as officials spent months trying to contain the disease.

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