A Quebec duck operation says three of its facilities have been devastated by bird flu, forcing it to slaughter 150,000 birds and lay off nearly 300 employees.
It will probably take six to 12 months and probably several million dollars to fully restore the company, Angela Anderson of Brome Lake Ducks said in an interview Wednesday.
Brome Lake Ducks announced its first case of bird flu on April 13. Anderson said the virus was discovered after officials at one of its sites noticed that some of the birds were getting sick and contacted a veterinarian who recommended testing.
Read more: Cases of bird flu have been identified among herds on a handful of farms in Quebec
While only three of the company’s 13 sites were affected by the H5N1 virus, one contained the company’s entire breeding stock, including 400,000 Beijing duck eggs, which were ordered to be destroyed by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
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Once the birds in the pipeline in unaffected facilities are processed, the company will have to cut staff because no more ducks will enter, she said.
“Yesterday I spent all day on 11 different sites to inform almost 300 employees that they will no longer have a job in four to five weeks,” Anderson said, adding that the number did not include many dealers and truck drivers servicing the operation.
“The situation is extremely emotional and extremely difficult.”
Veterinarian Jean-Pierre Vailancour of the Universite de Montreal says the highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 is the most dangerous strain farmers in Quebec have ever encountered.
Read more: Canada’s food industry makes adjustments amid big bird flu outbreak
“We have been witnessing a widespread (bird flu) since 1959 and we have never had it in Quebec, so this is the first time now,” Vailancourt said in an interview Wednesday.
Bird flu, he added, has been present in wild birds for years, but does not pose a significant risk, as the level of pollution in the environment has always been low.
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However, the strain is stronger and more contagious, meaning more virus is circulating, Vailancourt said. The strain also has a longer incubation period than previous strains, leading to potentially contagious birds for days before anyone realizes they are sick, he said.
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He said the virus could enter the facility through contact with wild birds, adding that it could also be introduced on straw and bedding or even on the shoes of people who have walked near a pond where birds gather. Although he said farmers should not panic, they should be careful and implement biosecurity protocols.
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Vaillancourt said that while not a major risk to humans, it is so contagious that all animals on an infected farm must be destroyed on the spot to stop it from spreading. Left unchecked, the virus could kill half or more of a herd, he said.
The first cases of bird flu in Quebec were detected in wild geese earlier this month, and several other provinces have already reported outbreaks of wild and domestic populations. As of Wednesday morning, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirmed the presence of influenza at four sites in Quebec, all in the Estrie region east of Montreal.
Anderson said it would not be easy to restart operations at Brome Lake Ducks, one of Canada’s largest duck producers. She said the insurance did not cover animal mortality, adding that while there was some compensation from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, it was not close to covering losses.
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New animals will also have to come from Europe, which is affected by its own bird flu problems.
Anderson said he hopes different levels of management will offset the company’s losses and help it get back on its feet. Although the company faces other challenges, including a major fire in 2016, it said it was the biggest so far.
“Problems we can deal with, but this is extremely difficult and the hill we have to climb is very steep.”
Vaillancourt said climate change is likely to play a role in the evolution of more deadly viruses, as changing temperatures affect bird migration, prompting some wild birds to visit areas they have not visited before. Breeders, he said, need to be prepared for more viruses in the coming years.
“There is a new reality and it is not a one-year thing,” he said.
© 2022 The Canadian Press
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