New cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) have been confirmed in poultry in three Canadian provinces.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) reported that Quebec, Ontario and Alberta have each had one additional confirmed case of HPAI in poultry.
Cases in the municipality of York, Ontario, and the municipality of Les Sources, Quebec, were confirmed on April 21, while a case in Kneehill County, Alberta, was confirmed on April 20.
CFIA reported the Alberta and Ontario cases as H5N1 variants of HPAI, while the Quebec case was only identified as an H5 type of avian influenza.
Les Sources has now had two cases of HPAI, while Kneehill County has had three cases. This is York’s first confirmed case.
CFIA has not released any further information concerning the size of these flocks or what species of poultry was involved.
The HPAI outbreak in Canada was first confirmed on December 22, 2021, when a multi-species exhibition farm in the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland and Labrador was affected. The first case of HPAI in commercial poultry in Canada was confirmed on February 3 at a turkey operation in western Nova Scotia.
Since that time, HPAI has been confirmed in every province in Canada, although the cases in Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Manitoba did not involve commercial poultry and should not have an impact on international poultry trade, in accordance with standards set forth by the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE).
The virus has also been found in commercial poultry in numerous U.S. states, including Minnesota, Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Delaware, Maryland and Pennsylvania.
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.
