A potential case of bird flu in an island chicken flock has been investigated

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The CFIA says bird flu cases are rising rapidly across Canada. Only one outbreak on a farm near Enderby in Shuswap has been confirmed in BC.

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April 23, 2022 • 17 minutes ago • 2 minutes reading • Join the conversation Chickens are seen on a chicken farm in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Friday, December 10, 2021 Photo: Jonathan Hayward / THE CANADIAN PRESS

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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has identified a farm in the Cowichan Valley as a “suspected concern” for bird flu.

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The state’s Department of Agriculture and Food has confirmed that the federal agency is investigating a “backyard herd” of chickens in the Mill Bay area that may have the highly contagious H5N1 virus.

The ministry has sent messages to farms within a 12-kilometer radius. “The emergency rooms have shown symptoms … and have required further investigation,” the ministry said in an email Friday.

The Salt Spring Bird Club has postponed its bird show to April 30 for late May or June after a member of the Kowichan Valley warned the group. The club said in a Facebook post: “Our goal as a club is to do everything possible to protect the livestock of our island and the pets of our club members.

The CFIA says bird flu cases are rising rapidly across Canada.

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Only one outbreak on a farm near Enderby in Shuswap has been confirmed in BC.

The virus is spread by contact with an infected bird, its feces or nasal secretions. It can be spread by migratory birds and by people who can transmit the infection to their shoes or clothes.

The island’s commercial poultry farms have been on the alert since the Enderby outbreak was announced on April 13, with biosecurity measures that include limited access to barns and spraying of all incoming and outgoing vehicles.

The CFIA has not released information on suspected cases of bird flu. If H5N1 is confirmed in the Mill Bay herd, it will be published on its website.

The agriculture ministry said the birds could die or have symptoms such as a drop in egg production, respiratory disease, diarrhea or a drop in food or water consumption.

The worst bird flu epidemic in the province was in 2004, killing about 17 million birds in the Fraser Valley.

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