A third case of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) has been reported in Ontario, Canada.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), the latest case was confirmed in a poultry flock in the Township of Woolwich, in the southern part of the province. The virus detected was of the H5N1 serotype, according to the CFIA, and the case was confirmed on March 30.
No further information was released by CFIA, but the agency will submit a report to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
Ontario has had two previous cases of HPAI in commercial poultry, confirmed on March 27 and March 28.
According to a report on the (OIE) website, one of the farms, in the Oxford region, saw 375 birds die after being exposed to HPAI. There was a total of 8,800 susceptible 4-week-old turkeys on the premises.
The other farm, according to the OIE, is located in the Wellington region, and housed 5650 birds. Of those, 600 turkeys died after contracting HPAI. The birds at this farm were 13-week-old breeding turkeys.
Ontario has also had a confirmed case of HPAI in a wild red-tailed hawk.
The only other case of HPAI to be reported in commercial poultry in Canada occurred in Nova Scotia, where a flock of 11,800 turkeys was affected.
The presence of HPAI has also been confirmed in the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and British Columbia. However, those cases were all in wild birds, backyard poultry or exhibition birds and should not result in any trade restrictions in accordance with OIE standards.
Elsewhere in North America, HPAI has also been detected in commercial poultry in the U.S. states of North Carolina, Minnesota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, Maryland, Delaware, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri and Wisconsin.
To learn more about HPAI cases in North American commercial poultry flocks, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
Read our ongoing coverage of the global avian influenza outbreak.
