Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has returned to the Canadian province of British Columbia after a nearly six-month absence.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported that the presence of HPAI had been confirmed in a commercial poultry flock in Chilliwack, British Columbia on October 20. The flock size or the type of poultry involved has not yet been disclosed.
No province had more cases of HPAI than British Columbia in 2022, with 72 commercial flocks affected. Six more commercial flocks and two non-commercial flocks in the province were infected in January, but the cases discontinued until April 29, when a flock of pigeons was affected. That, until now, was the last time HPAI was confirmed in British Columbia.
Since September 12, 2022, there have been 24 commercial flocks in Chilliwack affected by the virus.
Earlier this fall, the Canadian federal government committed CA$1.81 million (US$1.34 million) to the British Columbia Poultry Association (BCPA) to help the province’s poultry industry respond to future outbreaks of HPAI.
The following provinces have had cases of HPAI in commercial poultry in 2023: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario. CFIA also reported cases of HPAI in backyard poultry in Nova Scotia earlier in 2023.
View our continuing coverage of the global avian influenza situation.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States, Mexico and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
