Federal officials say they have confirmed that a backyard
flock of about 100 guinea fowl and chickens in Oregon has tested positive for
H5N2 avian influenza.
The poultry industry in the Fraser Valley of British
Columbia has been hit by the virus that has claimed more than 300,000 turkeys,
broilers and broiler-breeding chickens so far, either through death or
euthanizing control measures.
The entire southern part of British Columbia is under restrictions
on movement and the farms where the virus has been confirmed have been
quarantined and a five-kilometre quarantine zone has been established by the
Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
The Americans say so far none of its commercial poultry
flocks has been hit.
Many countries have banned poultry from Canada and that is
hitting Hybrid Turkeys in Kitchener and ISA (formerly Shaver Poultry), a
breeder of laying hens, in the southern part of Cambridge.
Hybrid Turkeys, a division of Hendrix Genetics of the
Netherlands, is the world’s largest turkey-breeding business holding more than
half of the market share.
Europe is the destination for about half of its Canadian
production, and that trade has been stopped by the trading ban.
Canadians export about 26 million turkey hatching eggs and
poults per year.
The Canadian government is trying to persuade countries that
have imposed trading bans to limit them to poultry from British Columbia.
