B.C. sees 1st avian flu outbreaks since January as 9 confirmed in poultry stocks

There’s been a surge in avian influenza outbreaks in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley as the fall migration season for many birds takes flight.

A list published by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency shows the virus has been detected in nine commercial poultry flocks in the region over the last two weeks.

They mark the first new outbreaks confirmed in the province since last January.

The first outbreak of this season was detected Oct. 14 in a flock in Abbotsford and the other eight have been confirmed since last Thursday.

Six of the outbreaks are at Chilliwack-area farms and three are in Abbotsford.

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B.C. poultry flocks have been hard hit by the virus, with an estimated 8.8 million birds dying or being culled in the province in recent years.

The outbreak confirmed last Dec. 31 at an ostrich farm in southeastern B.C. is still considered active, for a total of 10 outbreaks in B.C.

The food inspection agency had ordered the ostriches to be culled, the protocol following an outbreak, but the farm owners have been fighting to save the flock.

The ostriches’ fate now lies with the Supreme Court of Canada as it mulls whether to grant the farm leave to appeal a lower court decision that upheld the cull order.