Avian flu hasn’t yet been detected in Canadian livestock
By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is now including livestock resources on its webpages about highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI).
This response comes after the United States Department of Agriculture has confirmed cases of bird flu in multiple dairy herds in the country.
As of April 23, herds in eight states have tested positive for avian flu.
“Affected cows are showing clinical signs that include a decrease in milk production or feed consumption and thicker consistency milk,” the CFIA says on its webpage. “The animals appear to recover after a period of illness.”
The CFIA encourages producers to stay on top of biosecurity measures and says veterinarians should watch for multiple signs in cattle. These include dry manure or constipation, a decrease in feed consumption and a drop in rumen motility.
Wild birds appear to be the main source of HPAI, the CFIA says.
But when the virus infects another animal, that can create challenges, said Scott Weese, a veterinarian and professor at the University of Guelph.
“Any time it moves into a different species, you’re creating more of an opportunity for that virus to change,” Weese told the Toronto Star. “And what we don’t want to do is to see it accumulate more and more factors that make it able to infect mammals, including us.”
The CFIA also wants consumers to know there’s no cause for concern for end products.
The pasteurization process kills the virus, and there’s no evidence that properly cooked beef could transmit the virus to humans.