B.C. eggs, chicken safe to eat, says industry, as avian flu spreads

B.C.’s poultry farmers are incredibly worried about the ongoing spread of the avian flu here, but they want you to know it’s safe to eat their products as the virus can’t be spread through food to people.

Ray Nickel is a poultry farmer in Abbotsford and a member of the BC Poultry Emergency Operation Centre. He says everyone is really stressed out right now.

“B.C. has a very strict bio-security program in place and right now we’re eliminating visitors and even service people that would possibly be scheduled to try and reschedule that. Anyone that would be going inside the barn is pretty much prevented right now from doing that and then when you do go in and out of the barn, protocols are obviously changing footgear, coveralls and washing hands to ensure you’re not bringing in anything with you.”

Nickel adds despite the concern right now, many farmers have experience dealing with this following cases reported in B.C. in 2004, 2009, and 2014.

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“Farmers have learned to take it in stride as far as the protocols that we’re discussing. B.C. has different levels of bio-security measures, so we have a green, yellow and a red and right now we’re in a red alert, which means we do a lockdown because of the threat that’s there and because we have a positive [case] in the Interior.”

“Farmers are nervous. None of us want to go through that experience and it does create some concern about our livelihood and the unknown is always a scary thing no matter what business you’re in,” adds Nickel.

He admits the industry is really worried about a large-scale outbreak.

“Given that it’s happening in parts of Canada and we’ve had more experience — we feel blessed at this point that we haven’t had to go through it anymore than what is currently happening in the province and we’re moving into warmer weather which is good for eradication of the virus in the environment, but we do the fall coming back and we know migratory birds aren’t going to go away as far as that goes, so we are concerned about the ongoing threat that this poses for our industry.”

Amanda Brittain with the BC Egg Marketing Board explains they are getting calls from people who have backyard chickens, and she wants them to know, they are not immune from seeing the virus.

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“Farmers have been ordered by the chief veterinary officer to keep their birds inside because usually this disease is spread through migratory birds and same advice applies. They should keep their birds inside, if at all possible. They should make sure they’re washing their hands and changing their shoes and their clothing before going in to care for their birds because we can inadvertently bring the disease in, especially on our shoes if you walk through wild bird poop. I do know that some backyard flocks, they don’t have enough inside space for their birds. You can cover the run, where the chickens are outside… the disease is in feces so if they’re not pooping on your chicken’s pasture, that’s good. You can also do other things to deter wild birds from being anywhere near your birds such as putting chicken wire over or I think it’s called airplane wire to discourage any of the big birds from coming in.”

She adds there is no significant risk to healthy people who are not in contact regularly with infected birds.

Like COVID-19, the avian flu is a respiratory disease. “It is an influenza… that primarily affects waterfowl in the wild and if it does get into domesticated birds, chickens, ducks, turkeys — anything like that — it is devastating to them.”

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food says it’s working with the CFIA and BC poultry producers to ensure prevention and preparedness measures are in place.

“The first confirmation of H5N1 in BC poultry was at a commercial producer in the Regional District of North Okanagan in mid-April. A general order requiring commercial poultry producers with 100 or more birds to keep birds indoors has also been extended until June 13, 2022,” says the ministry in a statement. “Wild birds have also tested positive for H5 strains of avian influenza in or near 100 Mile House, Bowen Island, Chilliwack, Kelowna, Metro Vancouver, Vanderhoof and Williams Lake.”

Currently, there are cases in a few spots in the Interior, in the Comox Valley and in Richmond.