There continues to be an increase in the number of cases of avian influenza in Western Canada

May 06, 2022

Alberta now has a total of 24 cases, four of which came in this week.

The CFIA reporting three of the cases were found in commercial poultry operations located in Newell County, Lethbridge County and the Municipality of Wainright, while the fourth case was found in a small poultry flock in the County of Two Hills.

The disease has had a major impact on Alberta's poultry operations with close to 900 thousand birds dead or depopulated.

Another case of the highly pathonegenic avian influenza has now been confirmed in Saskatchewan.

The latest case is in a commercial poultry operation just south of Moose Jaw in the RM of Baildon

Currently eight cases have been found in Saskatchewan.

With the increased risk of avian influenza, Saskatchewan's Chief Veterinary Officer has issued a new animal health control order limiting the co-mingling of poultry.

The order prohibits the movement to and participation of birds in shows, auctions and agricultural fairs, as well as any other events where birds would be brought together from multiple locations.

Saskatchewan's new animal health control order is in effect until May 14, 2022.

At this point there has only been one case of avian influenza found in Manitoba, and seven in British Columbia.

Once a case has been confirmed the operation placed under quarantine.

Poultry producers and small flock owners are reminded to follow all necessary biosecurity protocols to protect their flocks from the disease by keeping wild birds away from poultry flocks, their food and water supply, limiting visitors and monitoring bird health.

Small flock owners are also encouraged to confine their birds indoors if possible.

Health Canada says this is not a food safety issue and does not pose a food safety risk.

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Video: US Soy: Pig growth is impaired by soybean meal displacement in the diet

Eric van Heugten, PhD, professor and swine extension specialist at North Carolina State University, recently spoke at the Iowa Swine Day Pre-Conference Symposium, titled Soybean Meal 360°: Expanding our horizons through discoveries and field-proven feeding strategies for improving pork production. The event was sponsored by Iowa State University and U.S. Soy.

Soybean meal offers pig producers a high-value proposition. It’s a high-quality protein source, providing essential and non-essential amino acids to the pig that are highly digestible and palatable. Studies now show that soybean meal provides higher net energy than current National Research Council (NRC) requirements. Plus, soybean meal offers health benefits such as isoflavones and antioxidants as well as benefits with respiratory diseases such as porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS).

One of several ingredients that compete with the inclusion of soybean meal in pig diets is dried distillers grains with solubles (DDGS).

“With DDGS, we typically see more variable responses because of the quality differences depending on which plant it comes from,” said Dr. van Heugten. “At very high levels, we often see a reduction in performance especially with feed intake which can have negative consequences on pig performance, especially in the summer months when feed intake is already low and gaining weight is at a premium to get them to market.”

Over the last few decades, the industry has also seen the increased inclusion of crystalline amino acids in pig diets.

“We started with lysine at about 3 lbs. per ton in the diet, and then we added methionine and threonine to go to 6 to 8 lbs. per ton,” he said. “Now we have tryptophan, isoleucine and valine and can go to 12 to 15 lbs. per ton. All of these, when price competitive, are formulated into the diet and are displacing soybean meal which also removes the potential health benefits that soybean meal provides.”