Number of B.C. farms identified with avian flu up to seven

Dec 12, 2014

H5N2 found at farms near Chilliwack and Abbotsford

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) identified two more farms in British Columbia, bringing the total number to seven. The added farms bring the total number of birds to be euthanized up to 155,000 from 140,000.

Officials still don’t know the origin of the avian flu and there is speculation more farms could be infected.

"The identification of additional farms is not unexpected, given that avian influenza is highly contagious," Harpreet Kochhar, Canada's chief veterinary officer, said Wednesday in a conference call with reporters.

As a result of the original outbreak, the United States, South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, South Africa, Mexico, and China installed bans on B.C. poultry and in some cases, any poultry coming from Canada.

Customers hopeful of finding that turkey for Christmas dinner shouldn’t be worried about a shortage.

“The number of birds being euthanized that would have made it for Christmas is probably only 1% of those produced,” said Phil Boyd, Executive Director of Turkey Farmers of Canada. “With some rescheduling of birds and transportation, there shouldn’t be any shortage.

Video: How Swine Nutrition Can Revolutionize Biogas Production - Dr. Felipe Hickmann

In this episode of The Swine it Podcast Show Canada, Dr. Felipe Hickmann from Laval University explores how nutritional strategies and manure management impact biogas production in pig farming. He breaks down the science behind anaerobic digestion at low temperatures and explains how dietary adjustments affect methane production and environmental sustainability. Learn how producers can reduce emissions and improve resource efficiency. Listen now on all major platforms!

"Lowering crude protein can reduce nitrogen in manure, but only if animal intake doesn’t compensate by increasing feed consumption."

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