While Canadian bird producers are concerned by the recent outbreaks of H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), which has led to the deaths of nearly two-million birds in Canada, they say the U.S. is more at risk of a poultry and egg supply shortage.."We've been hit by bird flu before in Canada, but never to this magnitude and never in multiple provinces simultaneously," said Jean-Michel Lauren, president and CEO of Canadian Poultry & Egg Processors Canada.."But we tend to have a lot more farms that are smaller in size, which makes for a more resilient supply chain than the United States.".A global outbreak of the avian flu resulted in the deaths of millions of farmed birds. Some Canadian provinces have even discouraged people from putting out bird feeders for fear it could aid in the disease's spread..According to the Canada Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), an estimated 1,822,500 birds in Canada have been impacted by the disease. When this happens, the infected flocks are destroyed, the carcasses are disposed of in an "environmentally acceptable way," and the premises are thoroughly cleaned and disinfected before new birds are introduced.."Where highly pathogenic virus is present, flocks in the vicinity of infected premises and those from poultry operations that may have had contact with infected premises are also humanely destroyed and disposed of as a pre-emptive measure," they said..Chicken producers must notify the CFIA of all suspected cases of HPAI, after which the agency will implement a quarantine restricting the movement of poultry so they can be tested and monitored. The CFIA uses PCR testing to verify the presence of HPAI, as it is the "global standard for avian influenza testing and has been used by the CFIA since the first detection of avian influenza in Canada in 2004.".Lauren said HPAI has been proven to be "very contagious," but the disease's spread has thankfully only been from wild birds and not due to farm-to-farm or person-to-person transmission.."That's why the biosecurity is so important, like disinfecting the trucks that come into the farms or plants and making sure the employees change their clothes. The virus can be spread that way, but it's really the wild birds that are moving it around.".Lauren said the U.S. and Europe allow Canadian poultry and egg farmers to export products to their countries "as long as it's not from those [quarantine] zones."."But some countries don't care, they'll just impose blanket restrictions on us because we have avian influenza in our country. So there are some countries where nobody in Canada can ship anything to.".While Lauren said the idea of a shortage of chicken is "in the back of my mind," it doesn't seriously worry him. He noted that Canada exports a large amount of dark meat and "other products that we don't like that much," to the rest of the world..But with many countries closing the country's access to those markets, "that means there's more product available for Canada.".Lauren said Canadian bird farmers are also more resilient that those in the U.S. because they tend to be smaller in size, which is why the U.S. has had to destroy 38 million chickens and turkeys compared to Canada's 1.8 million..Lisa Bishop-Spencer, director of brand and communications for Chicken Farmers of Canada, said there is no reason to be concerned about the food supply "at this time," thanks to Canada's supply management system..Bishop-Spencer said Canadian chicken farmers mostly produce for the domestic market and the farms are evenly spread out across the provinces. But because most of U.S. chicken production is confined to the southern United States, in what is known as the "Delmarva Peninsula," areas of the country could face difficulties with their supply of poultry..She also emphasized the safety of chicken products in Canada, adding they haven't seen any declines in poultry or egg consumption because of HPAI.."[Bird flu] is something that we deal with every year and prepare for every spring and every fall. The public has been wonderful about knowing that their chicken and poultry is safe to eat."."If they want to support their farmers, that's the best way to do it is just to continue eating the products as they always have."
