Ontario gets first cases of avian flu of 2023

Mar 21, 2023

The most recent case was confirmed on March 20

By Diego Flammini
Staff Writer
Farms.com

Avian flu has arrived in Ontario in 2023.

The City of Brampton confirmed a case of bird flu on March 20.

Deceased waterfowl discovered near Professor’s Lake and Duncan Valley Foster South tested positive for avian influenza, the City said.

Animal samples were sent to the Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative, which confirmed bird flu as the cause of death.

Prior to the Brampton case, bird flu was detected on a commercial poultry operation the Niagara Region.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) detected the case on March 14 in West Lincoln.

This case caused an attraction in Toronto to change its operations for the time being.

In a Twitter thread on March 15 and in a press release, the Zoo said as of March 16 it is closing or modifying walk-through aviaries to protect birds.

It’s also closing behind-the-scenes tours of animal food preparation because “of a recent confirmation of Avian influenza in a commercial poultry farm within 200km of the Zoo.”

In addition, the Zoo is discontinuing feeding any animals poultry products temporarily.

The case in Niagara is still considered active.

Ontario’s third case of avian flu in 20233 was detected on March 10.

This case happened in a non-commercial poultry operation in Chatham-Kent and is still active.

Prior to these cases in 2023, Ontario’s last case of avian flu was detected on Dec. 21, 2022 on a commercial poultry operation in Lambton Shores.

In Ontario, seven premises are currently infected with avian flu. Thirty-eight are previously infected, and about 757,000 birds are affected.

In Canada, there are 71 infected premises and 231 previously infected. And approximately 7,184,000 birds are affected by avian flu, the CFIA says.

Video: Swine Industry Advances: Biodigesters Lower Emissions and Increase Profits

Analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG emissions) in the Canadian swine sector found that CH4 emissions from manure were the largest contributor to the overall emissions, followed by emissions from energy use and crop production.

This innovative project, "Improving Swine Manure-Digestate Management Practices Towards Carbon Neutrality With Net Zero Emission Concepts," from Dr. Rajinikanth Rajagopal, under Swine Cluster 4, seeks to develop strategies to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions.

While the management of manure can be very demanding and expensive for swine operations, it can also be viewed as an opportunity for GHG mitigation, as manure storage is an emission source built and managed by swine producers. Moreover, the majority of CH4 emissions from manure occur during a short period of time in the summer, which can potentially be mitigated with targeted intervention.

In tandem with understanding baseline emissions, Dr. Rajagopal's work focuses on evaluating emission mitigation options. Manure additives have the potential of reducing manure methane emissions. Additives can be deployed relatively quickly, enabling near-term emission reductions while biodigesters are being built. Furthermore, additives can be a long-term solution at farms where biogas is not feasible (e.g., when it’s too far from a central digester). Similarly, after biodigestion, additives can also be used to further reduce emissions from storage to minimize the carbon intensity of the bioenergy.