Even after 21 months of highly pathogenic avian influenza cases in Canada — including three new cases in domestic birds so far this month — Canada’s “stamping out” policy for the virus remains in effect.
Canada’s active caseload of the virus now comes down to just eight of the 325 premises affected since December 2021.
Even if no additional cases turn up, though, many steps remain before the country’s “free from HPAI” status can be restored.
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Reports from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) showed no HPAI detections in domestic birds from May 6 up until Sept. 11, when a commercial chicken and turkey broiler and layer operation, east of New Dayton in southern Alberta’s Warner County, was found to have the virus.
According to CFIA’s report to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), 390 birds on that premises died of the virus and another 1,570 were euthanized.
CFIA on Thursday (Sept. 21) reported detection of a new outbreak on another commercial poultry operation in the southwestern Saskatchewan R.M. of Maple Creek. Details on the number and type of poultry affected at that premises aren’t yet available.
A third outbreak was confirmed Friday in domestic birds at a “non-commercial, non-poultry” premises in central Alberta’s Red Deer County.
Past those three, five other non-commercial premises are still listed as “infected” — two in Alberta, two in Saskatchewan and one in British Columbia.
Despite the 21-month run of cases — which as of Thursday had impacted a total of 7.678 million birds across nine provinces — “country-level freedom from avian influenza remains the objective,” a CFIA representative said via email Friday.
While restoring Canada’s status as HPAI-free would ease export trade in Canadian poultry and eggs, CFIA noted it’s “not the sole determining factor in market access for Canadian poultry products.”
For one thing, the agency said, many trading partners, including in Europe and Asia as well as the U.S., are “facing similar challenges” with HPAI and it remains “important for all trading partners to work together to minimize the trade impacts of these outbreaks” as per WOAH policies.
The U.S., for one, had a similar break from HPAI cases in domestic birds this summer, lasting from May 18 through to late July.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service reported outbreaks at live bird markets in New York’s Kings County (that is, Brooklyn) on July 25 and 28 and Aug. 3, then another at a live bird market in northern New Jersey’s Union County on Sept. 15.
CFIA today has agreements with the U.S. as well as the European Union, Philippines and Singapore which allow trade to continue from poultry and egg operations outside of primary control zones (PCZs) which are drawn up around premises that haven’t yet been cleared of infection.
Other trading partners’ policies, CFIA said, take the active PCZs into account — or they use other specific geographic boundaries that still allow unaffected poultry products to be exported. CFIA also said it continues to negotiate agreements with other countries to reduce avian flu impacts on trade.
Nevertheless, Canada still has a “stamping out policy” for HPAI — and that’s based on the goal of “eliminating the virus in domestic birds on infected premises and implementing movement control measures to prevent future spread.”
To declare Canada’s outbreak “resolved,” several steps remain for properties deemed infected, CFIA said:
- every outbreak in poultry across Canada is reported to WOAH as ‘closed’;
- the last PCZ in Canada is revoked;
- no lab results or investigations are pending;
- cleaning and disinfection are complete and movement restrictions are released on all poultry premises deemed infected;
- a report from the Canadian Notifiable Avian Influenza Surveillance System (CanNAISS) and reports from “passive surveillance” support country freedom; and
- a final report has been submitted to — and validated by — the WOAH.
As for the other five premises not yet released from quarantine, they “have not yet met the requirements” for release. CFIA said the quarantines it issues have to remain in place until a premises owner completes all required steps, including “primary decontamination” after infected birds are destroyed.
Primary decontamination — including destruction and disposal of all birds on the premises and related products such as eggs — “controls the risk of disease spread to other premises until cleaning and disinfection is complete,” the agency said.
Cleaning and disinfection, which take place following a site assessment with CFIA, will include removing litter and manure; wet-cleaning and disinfecting hard surfaces and structures; and cleaning and disinfecting tools and equipment. Those costs are the responsibility of the birds’ owner.
Once cleaning and disinfection are done, the CFIA evaluates the farm to determine when the quarantine may be removed — normally, at least 14 days after cleaning and disinfection, final inspection and approval. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
