British Columbia
and federal officials are stepping up their surveillance for avian influenza
carried by migrating waterfowl.
They have
announced an additional $300,000 for the program which includes education
forums for small flock poultry owners.
The B.C. Agriculture
Ministry says the money will enable it Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford to
buy specialized equipment to test sediment samples from ponds and wetlands used
by waterfowl.
The funding will also
support a rapid response to any future outbreaks with mobile equipment to help
with the humane depopulation of infected flocks.
A case of avian flu was
confirmed in B.C.'s Fraser Valley in November after a duck was shot by a
hunter, but there have been no reports of infections at commercial farms this fall.
An outbreak that began in
December 2014 and infected 11 commercial chicken and turkey farms in the Fraser
Valley was declared eradicated in June of this year.
Ontario had three cases in
Oxford County last year. The poultry marketing boards and the Ontario Ministry
of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs ran a tight ship to keep those outbreaks
from spreading and to keep any contaminated poop from migrating waterfowl out
of barns.
