Commonwealth _Canada _ As the number of birds killed or put down due to the disease since early last year approaches one million, poultry producers in Quebec are coping with a string of outbreaks of the deadly avian flu. Chicken producers are all taking additional care, according to Sylvain Junior Henrie, a co-owner of Ferme La Caboche in Rimouski, Quebec.
People at his farm, northeast of Quebec City, put on new boots and coveralls before going into any structures. He has invested in portable shelters, a variety of tarps, and canvas in order to prevent wild birds from mixing with his organic chickens, ducks, and turkeys. He is delaying moving his flock outside until later in the year.
Henrie and other farmers in his area have so far escaped harm, but the highly virulent H5N1 virus is having a significant effect on poultry production across the province, causing everything from farmer concern to a lack of the medication needed to put affected flocks to sleep.
20 places in the province were regarded as actively infected as of Friday. British Columbia had eight contaminated locations, whereas Alberta had 11, which was the next-highest number. Since last year, the flu has caused more than 7.6 million bird deaths or euthanasias in Canada, including 945,000 in Quebec.
New regulations were put into place by the c on April 26 that forbade sales, exhibits, or fairs where birds from various regions congregate. According to Martin Pelletier, a representative for a nonprofit that tracks poultry illness in Quebec, there have already been more outbreaks this year than there were in the entire previous year.
The recent outbreaks, according to Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, a professor at the veterinary school at the University of Montreal, are centered on a number of farms in the Montérégie area to the east of Montreal. According to him, farms may become problematically near to one another some are only 200 meters apart if personnel, resources, or facilities are shared.
