Update on H5N2 in Ontario

April 17, 2015 –  With the management of the avian influenza outbreak in Ontario now almost through its second week, the FBBC Board continues to be pleased at the effectiveness of the containment and risk management procedures that have been put in place. The FBCC EOC staff is meeting regularly with all sectors of the Ontario poultry industry to manage operational issues as they arise and has been working cooperatively and effectively with the CFIA to ensure as many safeguards as possible have been put into place to mitigate the possibility of the disease spreading beyond the initial index farm site.

The CFIA London permitting office, which has been staffed by FBBC constituent Board employees, continues to work with suppliers to prioritize and streamline the vetting of applications as required. The CFIA is now working with FBCC to determine longer term shipping date and supply requirements for birds within the quarantine area which will help the longer term permitting and scheduling process.

On Wednesday, April 15, FBCC communicated directly with broker-dealers and hatcheries that they should not ship chicks, pullets and poults to small flock growers within the quarantine area. That request was also supported by a recommendation from the CFIA. In order to ensure complete compliance of precautionary measures by all elements of the industry, the FBCC is also stepping up its monitoring of the small flock growers in the quarantine area.

The FBCC liaison team has been instrumental in helping bring all supply chain industry stakeholders and representatives into the official information briefing process. This communication outreach has ensured that industry stakeholders from as far away as New Brunswick and British Columbia have been kept up to date with Ontario’s AI issue developments.

At the industry briefing on Thursday, April 16, and with no new Ontario AI cases identified to date, the CFIA stated that while it is still in the precautionary stage of managing the quarantine area, it would be looking to industry to help design and manage a recovery and stand down process. 

CFIA recently issued a Question and Answer resource that can be accessed by clicking here.

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