Turkeys slated to be destroyed by tonight

Quarantine continues at 23 farms after positive test for avian flu

By Amy O'Brian, Vancouver SunJanuary 27, 2009

All of the 60,000 turkeys infected with avian flu at an Abbotsford farm were scheduled to be destroyed by this evening.

Officials with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency were preparing Monday to destroy half the birds at E & H Farms, sealing off one of two barns in preparation for gassing the birds with carbon dioxide. The rest of the birds were scheduled to be killed today.

Tests and monitoring have not detected any spread of the virus to poultry on nearby farms, but a precautionary quarantine on 23 commercial farms within a three-kilometre radius will stay in effect for the next three weeks.

Sandra Stephens, a disease control specialist with the CFIA, said Monday that although the virus had not been detected in other flocks, it was too soon to declare victory over this latest outbreak.

"Certainly, one thing I've learned in dealing with avian influenza is that it's a very unpredictable virus," Stephens said in an interview.

"We always take a very precautionary approach in anything that we do with this virus, because just when you think that we've got it all under control, it has a surprise to throw at us."

The virus at E & H Farms is an H5 strain of the bird flu, which means it is possible for it to quickly change from a low-pathogenic to a high-pathogenic variety. Stephens said final test results indicating the specific strain and pathogenicity of the virus are expected in the coming days.

The CFIA is also conducting "dead-bird testing" for the duration of the quarantine. Dead-bird testing means producers collect up to five birds that have died in their barns -- ideally, within five or six hours of death -- and make them available for onsite testing by the CFIA.

The 60,000 destroyed birds will be composted in two stages -- the first taking place inside the barn where they are killed to avoid any airborne spread of the virus to other farms. The carcasses will be mixed with wood shavings and left in the barn for seven to 10 days, where temperatures in the core of the compost will reach up to 50 degrees Celsius.

After that, the partly composted birds will be moved outside the barn, covered in sawdust or straw and allowed to fully decompose until the mixture eventually becomes usable soil.