Few avian flu cases found in Western Canada

It’s been a quiet spring on the Prairies for cases of avian influenza despite fears of an imminent return of a highly contagious strain of the virus.

Two cases have been reported in Western Canada at the end of the first week of May, only one of which has impacted a commercial poultry operation in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley.

Amanda Brittian, chief information officer for the B.C. Poultry emergency operations centre, said the latest case, reported at the end of April, is an area dense with commercial operations.

But since then, no further operations have detected an infection.

“It is in an area that is very dense with poultry farms,” said Brittian of the case found in a Chilliwack-area poultry operation. “It’s over 100 farms within the primary control zone.”