I live in the town of Abbotsford, BC and just a few km outside the town center the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has set up a "control zone" to help control the outbreak. To date the problem, which first surfaced on a chicken farm, has spread to several other poultry enterprises. This has resulted in the mass slaughter of over 50,000 birds and the future destruction of hundreds of thousands more.
The CFIA has taken unusual steps to help control the outbreak. It has set up a control zone to restrict the spread of the disease out of the area and is actively disinfecting vehicles entering or leaving the area. CFIA staff is closely monitoring the birds for signs of illness as well as farm personnel. In several cases the influenza has caused symptoms in local farm workers. It is hoped that by tightly controlling access to the birds with a 10 km zone around the farms further spread of the disease will be minimized.
The effects of this problem are not limited to just a few farms in the Abbotsford area. The CFIA has taken a further step to control the outbreak by severely restricting the movement of any bird (including pets), bird product or bird by-product outside the control zone. This presents a problem for the people of British Columbia because the majority of bird products on the grocery store shelf/cooler in the province come from farms now in the control zone. With no bird products available those retailers outside the control zone must now find alternative suppliers. Suppliers within the zone may not be able to sell products outside the zone and are beginning to feel the effect of this sales shortfall. This has led poultry processing facilities to reduce hours and lay off some workers. The long-term result of this economic problem has yet to be fully determined.
Although the current outbreak in Canada of Avian Influenza is a different strain than occurring in Asia the economic consequences for this community are just as devastating. In the last year Canada has suffered economically with two severe disease incidents, BST and the Asian flu. With the continued expansion of intensive farming and the shrinking of the world through globalization we can expect other outbreaks of disease around the world. All the residents of this area can now only watch as the crisis unfolds, hoping that the restrictions will end soon and economic prosperity can return.
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