B.C. home to Canada’s first cases of avian flu for 2023

Jan 23, 2023

Two cases were detected on Jan. 6

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

British Columbia recorded many of Canada’s first cases of avian flu for 2023.

Two cases were detected on Jan. 6.

One was in a non-commercial operation in the District of Tofino while the other was in a non-commercial operation in the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District.

Since then, six additional instances of avian flu have been found in the province.

Of those six, five (Jan. 7, 11, 14, 18 and 22) were in commercial operations in the City of Chilliwack.

The remaining case was in a commercial operation in the City of Abbotsford on Jan. 13.

As of Jan. 18, B.C. has 73 infected premises, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says. And, as of that date, 3,527,000 birds in the province have been affected by the disease.

For context, CFIA estimates avian flu has affected 7,051,000 birds in Canada.

This means B.C. accounts for 50 per cent of all birds impacted by avian flu across the country.

The province also has 30 previously infected premises.

Only one other province has a confirmed case of avian flu in 2023.

The case was found on Jan. 11 at a non-commercial, non-poultry operation in Kent County, N.B.

New Brunswick has one infected premises and one previously infected premises. Fewer than 100 birds in the province have been affected by avian flu, the CFIA’s data says.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.