The Ontario government and the province’s poultry industry are putting a renewed focus on biosecurity at their first meeting in three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began, in hopes that action by farmers today could halt an even deadlier pandemic before it she begins.
Until this year, the National Poultry Show in London, Ontario was traditionally held in April. But as infections and losses among domestic flocks from highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, continue to accumulate, the event has been pushed back to early February to get the word out before wild birds begin their spring migration.
With farms in British Columbia’s Fraser Valley still under quarantine and outbreaks in Quebec last summer, poultry farmers in London at the industry’s largest gathering in Canada aren’t talking about ‘if’ the virus will arrive, but ‘when’ .
At this year’s show, authorities are taking no chances with their messages to farmers and the important role they play in preventing the spread of H5N1 – especially after a Spanish mink farm was decimated by the virus in what may be the first documented Case of is transmission of the disease from mammal to mammal.
H5N1 could make COVID-19 look mild
“The fact that we’re seeing this infection from mammal to mammal is worrying — we’re mammals,” said Al Dam, a poultry specialist at the Ontario Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
For this reason, OMAFRA is now discouraging live poultry shows and livestock auctions, while encouraging all poultry and swine workers to get vaccinated against influenza – to prevent human influenza strains from mixing with their avian or porcine counterparts, thereby causing a potential zoonotic jump .
If avian flu ever makes the leap to humans, the outcome could make the COVID-19 pandemic look mild.
Since 2003, there have been 240 human cases of the virus in four countries in the Pacific region. Of those, 135 were fatal, giving the virus a 56 percent mortality rate, according to the World Health Organization. The latest human case was discovered in China last fall. The patient died in less than a month.
“We have to spread a tough message,” Dam said. “People don’t realize it’s not just their little fishbowl.”
Even a small misstep, like forgetting to switch boots or tools between barns, can have life-changing consequences on the farm. A single case of bird flu found on a chicken, turkey or duck farm would result in Canada’s Food Administration officials enacting a 10-kilometer quarantine before euthanizing each individual animal.
Hospital cleaner for use on the farm
This fact hasn’t escaped the notice of farmers like Brock Wiebe, who works on his family’s chicken farm in St. Marys, Ontario, where they depend on a flock of 14,000 birds for a living.
“We’re concerned, but we’re taking every possible precaution because it can wipe out your entire herd,” Wiebe said.
Biosecurity has become such big business in agriculture that it has prompted entrepreneurs like Mark Bevan to make a move from healthcare to agriculture.
Bevan is President of EthoGuard, a company that has built a thriving business selling disinfectants, personal protective equipment, biosecurity training for farmers and even clean-up operations following an outbreak of bird flu.
“Biosecurity is becoming increasingly important,” said Bevan. “In the reality we are in with bird flu right now, reducing the risk of getting it on your farm is even more important.
“Unfortunately, influenza is now becoming a bit of the norm.”
The company’s marquise product is Prevail, a stabilized hydrogen peroxide product first developed for hospitals during the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis. When bird flu and swine fever began to threaten farms a decade ago, Bevan and his business partners saw an opportunity they couldn’t pass up.
“The technology is called accelerated hydrogen peroxide. It’s actually a Canadian invention,” he said. “It is considered the most effective choice. It’s a very fast contact time for killing pathogens, but the real magic is that it’s actually a purifier too.”
Bevan said business has grown since introducing the product to agriculture, but Prevail is still a small player. He hopes to one day replicate the chemical’s success in hospitals, where it’s as essential as rubber gloves.
