Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) continues to be problematic in Quebec, with three new commercial poultry flocks being affected.
According to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, the presence of HPAI was confirmed in two flocks in Les Maskotains Regional County Municipality on April 22. The day before that, a case of HPAI was confirmed in the La Vallée-du-Richelieu Regional County Municipality.
Details on the types of birds in the flocks or the number of birds involved has not yet been disclosed by CFIA.
So far in April, 12 commercial poultry flocks and one non-commercial flock have been affected by HPAI. Of those, seven were in Les Maskotains, while two were in La Vallée-du-Richelieu. The remaining April cases were in Rouville Regional County Municipality, with the last of those being confirmed on April 4.
Prior to April, Quebec had nine other confirmed cases of HPAI in 2023. To date, Quebec has had more cases of HPA than any other Canadian province this year, although when taking into account the HPAI cases confirmed in 2022, Quebec ranks third in terms of the most cases behind British Columbia and Alberta.
British Columbia has had 49 cases, with the most recent one being confirmed on January 22. Alberta has had 38 cases in commercial poultry, yet none of those were in commercial flocks. The only HPAI case in Alberta to be reported by CFIA this year was a non-commercial flock in Lacombe County, confirmed on April 21. Quebec’s total case count is now at 34.
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.
