Winnipeg | Reuters — Japan and Taiwan have imposed trade restrictions on poultry and poultry products from Ontario, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said Tuesday, a day after avian flu was confirmed in the province. The government agency said a turkey farm near Woodstock, Ont. was under quarantine after the presence of H5 avian influenza […] Read more
Taiwan, Japan ban Ont. poultry over avian flu
SW Ont. turkey farm quarantined, avian flu suspected
A quarantine has been set up at a commercial turkey farm west of Woodstock, Ont. pending the outcome of federal tests for avian flu in the flock. Ontario’s Feather Board Command Centre, the emergency response office for the province’s chicken, turkey, egg and hatchery sectors, said in a statement Monday that birds from the flock […] Read more
Canada blocking poultry from Montana, South Dakota
Canada is blocking cross-border shopping for raw poultry, eggs and live birds from another border state, after H5N2 avian flu was confirmed in central Montana on Friday. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) on Friday expanded restrictions that block travellers to Canada from H5N2-positive states from bringing in live birds, hatching eggs, eggs, yolks, egg […] Read more
H5N2 avian flu arrives in South Dakota
Chicago | Reuters — A virulent strain of avian flu has spread for the first time to poultry in South Dakota and infected a fourth turkey flock in Minnesota, the nation’s top turkey producer, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday. The latest infections of H5N2 flu show the virus, which can kill almost an […] Read more
Ont. poultry packer back under hidden-camera spotlight
Canada’s biggest poultry processor is back under animal welfare activists’ scrutiny with hidden-camera footage alleging more mishandling of birds at one of its packing plants. Maple Lodge Farms, which in September 2013 was convicted under the federal Health of Animals Act over birds’ exposure to cold weather during transport, said Saturday it’s paying “prompt attention” […] Read more
Last of avian flu quarantines lifted in B.C.
The quarantine has been lifted at the last of the 13 farms in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley known to have been infected with highly-pathogenic avian flu. The farm, a 53,000-bird table egg layer operation at Langley, B.C., was confirmed Dec. 13 with high-path H5N2 avian flu. At the end of a 21-day waiting period following […] Read more
SW Ont. pork plant to morph into turkey processor
The vacant pork slaughterhouse formerly known as Great Lakes Specialty Meats is now expected to restart as a turkey processing plant by year’s end. Meat processor Sofina Foods bought the 78,000-square foot plant and property at Mitchell, Ont., about 60 km west of Kitchener, for $4.77 million last September, after Great Lakes entered receivership in June. […] Read more
U.S. developing bird flu vaccine, no distribution plans yet
Chicago | Reuters — The U.S. government is developing a vaccine to protect poultry from new strains of avian flu that have recently killed birds from Arkansas to Washington state. Within two months, scientists at a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research lab in Georgia will test the vaccine on chickens to see how well […] Read more
All but one avian flu quarantine lifted in B.C.
A table egg layer operation near Langley is now the only farm still under quarantine for avian flu in British Columbia. All 13 properties in B.C.’s Fraser Valley that had been quarantined for highly-pathogenic H5N2 or H5N1 avian flu since the beginning of December have since been culled of birds, cleaned and disinfected. A subsequent […] Read more
U.S. reports low-path H7N3 bird flu in California
Paris | Reuters –– The United States has reported a mild form of bird flu on a turkey farm in California, the World Organisztion for Animal Health (OIE) said Wednesday, the latest in a series of outbreaks to hit the U.S. poultry industry in recent months. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said in a report […] Read more
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