The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has notified the World
Organization for Animal Health that Ontario is officially free of avian
influenza.
“This
declaration is based on the successful completion of a three-month surveillance
period following the eradication of notifiable avian influenza in commercial
poultry, including duck farms and hatcheries in the province,” says the CFIA on
its website.
Being free of
the disease improves Canada’s export status.
“The cooperation
of the commercial poultry industry, individual bird owners, the province of
Ontario and local authorities were instrumental in the disease eradication
effort in Ontario,” says the CFIA.
The poultry marketing
boards have set up a “command centre” which responds to these types of
situations.
