Abbotsford, British Columbia, has now had 100 commercial poultry flocks struck by highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) since the beginning of the 2022-24 outbreak.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported that the latest instance of HPAI in commercial poultry in the municipality was confirmed on December 3. Details on how many birds were in that flock or what type of poultry was involved has not yet been revealed.
According to data from CFIA, this marks the 44th commercial flock in Abbotsford to have been struck by HPAI in 2024. In 2022, 43 commercial flocks were affected by the virus, and in 2023, 13 flocks were affected.
While all of the instances of HPAI in Abbotsford in 2022 and 2023 involved the H5N1 serotype, at least two flock infections in 2024 have involved the H5N2 serotype.
British Columbia has had a total of 57 commercial poultry flocks struck by HPAI in 2024. Aside from the 44 in Abbotsford, 12 flocks in Chilliwack and one in Fraser Valley Regional District have been affected.
While the virus has not been nearly as prevalent elsewhere in Canada, five other provinces have had confirmed detections of HPAI in commercial flocks in 2024. Quebec has had six flocks affected this year, while Alberta has had two. Manitoba, Ontario and Saskatchewan have all had one flock affected.
The only other province to have a confirmed case of HPAI in commercial poultry during the 2022-24 outbreak is Nova Scotia, but no commercial flocks there have been affected since February 2022.
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.
