A surge of new cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in commercial poultry flocks have emerged in Canada, with one detection in Ontario and three in Quebec.
According to information on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) website, the Ontario case was confirmed in Norfolk County on April 19.
In Quebec, one case was confirmed in La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality on April 19. Two were confirmed in Les Maskoutains Regional County Municipality, one of which was confirmed on April 17 and the other was confirmed the following day.
CFIA did not disclose information concerning the types of commercial flocks affected, nor did it state how many birds were in any of those five flocks.
These are the first cases for Norfolk County and La Vallée-du-Richelieu, but Les Maskoutains had an earlier case confirmed on April 13.
So far in 2023, Quebec has had 16 cases of HPAI in commercial poultry operations, while Ontario has had three. In 2022, Quebec also had 16 commercial flocks affected, while Ontario had 30.
The only other Canadian province to have commercial poultry affected by HPAI in 2023 is British Columbia, with the last case there being confirmed on January 22.
In 2022, seven provinces had at least two cases of HPAI in commercial poultry operations. Those provinces include British Columbia, Alberta, Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia. The remaining provinces and territories all had HPAI cases confirmed in either backyard poultry or wild birds, and in some cases, both.
To learn more about HPAI cases in commercial poultry flocks in the United States and Canada, see an interactive map on WATTPoultry.com.
Read our ongoing coverage of the global avian influenza outbreak.
