ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – In this picturesque part of rural British Columbia, under the icy western face of Mount Baker, it is difficult to avoid poultry barns or housing developments.
Local farmers say that poultry has made it possible for small farms to survive urban sprawl and the resulting drastic inflation of land values. With nearly four million people nearby to provide local demand, poultry has become a mainstay of the agricultural economy of southern B.C.
Poultry generates more than $1 billion annually for the province.
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This has led to 80 percent of the province’s poultry being raised in the confines of the Fraser River Valley in the 200 kilometres between Hope and Vancouver.
But that concentration has led to the spread of avian influenza. A hot zone of five kilometres has been enlarged in the past two weeks as the flu spread.
Brian Evans, Canadian Food Inspection Agency chief veterinarian, said there are several possible causes for the sudden spread of the disease and while “we aren’t ruling out any of these,” the investigation is pointing to human transfer of the virus.
“Owners and managers of multiple barns, catching crews, feed suppliers, poultry house staff. Even the bio-security staff that these operations now employ may be involved.”
The CFIA is providing a bio-security protocol for anyone involved in the poultry industry in British Columbia.
“No one that need not be in or near a poultry house should be there. Anyone who is should be fully decontaminated.”
Evans said the disease may have once been introduced by wild birds but the spread is far too fast and too widespread to support this theory for all of the barns. Ground water has also been all but ruled out as a vector because of the wider area the disease now encompasses.
B.C. health officials say their aim is to prevent avian influenza from combining with human forms of flu.
As a result, provincial health officials say they are concerned about the health of the barn workers and those who come into close contact with the birds.
“Right now there is really no risk to the general public. We want to ensure that the virus doesn’t get the chance to have any genetic reassortment with human flu,” said Danuta Skowronski of the B.C. disease control centre.
She said the province is providing flu shots to all those in the industry as part of this prevention measure.
Skowronski said the concern is that human viruses and avian viruses might share RNA if large amounts of each are in close contact for prolonged periods.
So far the only human health issues have been mild cold-like symptoms and a second case last week of a poultry worker coming down with conjunctivitis, or pink eye.
“The avian virus has little or no effect on humans. We are just working to make sure it stays that way,” she said.
