The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it detected the first case of avian influenza in a commercial poultry flock in B.C. this season in Chilliwack.
The Story
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has announced the first detection of avian flu in a commercial poultry flock in British Columbia this season.
The agency says the infection was detected on Friday in Chilliwack.
It is the first case among domestic birds announced by the agency in B.C. since February, although infections have been moving across the Prairies since mid-September.
The season’s first detection in Ontario was announced last week, and the first case in Quebec was announced on Thursday.
The agency says H5 avian flu is not a food safety concern, but the disease can spread fast and infections typically lead to quarantine of affected farms and slaughter of their flocks.
British Columbia has been hardest hit by waves of avian influenza since late 2021, with the province accounting for more than 10 million birds that have died or been culled out of 18 million countrywide.
Cases in humans are rare, and in 2024, a teenage girl in B.C. became infected and developed serious illness before recovering.
← More stories