'The consequences are terrible for farmers': avian flu worries grow as spring nears

With spring less than two weeks away, Maritime chicken farmers are increasingly concerned about the worldwide outbreak of avian flu, carried by migratory birds like geese and ducks.

Cases of H5N1 have been on the rise for more than a year.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) says more than 7.1 million birds have been impacted by the highly pathogenic virus in Canada, but the Maritime region has escaped the worst of it -- at least for now.

The CFIA says 12,000 birds have been impacted in Nova Scotia and fewer than 100 in New Brunswick.

Prince Edward Island has no known cases at the moment.

"I can confirm that there have been no HPAI [highly pathogenic avian influenza] outbreaks of this nature reported on P.E.I. since outbreaks began in Canada in December 2021," an agency spokesperson told CTV News via email Wednesday.

But farmers are deeply worried about the return of migratory birds, which spread the disease.

"We know we've been in a bit of a lull because, as the migratory season has kind of come and gone,” said Amy VanderHeide, chair of the Chicken Farmers of Nova Scotia.

“Now we're re-entering another migratory season, so we're seeing an influx in the wild bird population, but also in backyard flocks of chickens and other waterfowl."

"It started in Europe, and now it's kind of made its way around -- it's everywhere right now. So, it's unavoidable, no matter where you are in the world," she said.

"And the consequences are terrible for farmers."

On Wednesday, Nova Scotia Liberals released a statement urging the province to fund the development of a testing lab in the province.

"Nova Scotia already has an animal health lab in Truro. We need to expand its mandate and operations to address the urgent concerns about avian flu,” said Keith Irving, Nova Scotia’s agriculture shadow minister and Liberal MLA for Kings South.

"Right now in Nova Scotia, we do not have a lab that's certified for testing for diseases like avian influenza, or other things like African swine fever," said VanderHeide.

"We're the only province in Atlantic Canada that doesn’t have a lab to do those tests, which puts us at a real disadvantage if it came to an outbreak," she said.

"Right now, we are sending samples to either Guelph or Winnipeg. Fredericton can do some testing for us. It all depends on where an outbreak is right now and it's all done by priority so any time that it takes is time that the disease can spread," said VanderHeide.

But the province's agriculture minister suggested such a move would be a federal responsibility.

"CFIA is the lead on this and they're responsible for testing. We have an animal health lab that's certified to meet all of our daily testing needs, but going beyond that would require national certification in Canadian bio-security standards and would need significant upgrades in ventilation and wastewater treatment in order to meet that standard," Greg Morrow told CTV News.

"We do have an arrangement with our colleagues in New Brunswick and we're very thankful for that. Their lab is surveillance-accredited, and it's the only surveillance-accredited lab in Atlantic Canada, so they're there to help us if something should happen."

Still, Morrow said the virus was an "ongoing concern."

"We continue to work with our partners at CFIA and industry to make sure we're staying on top of things," he said.

"Compared to other regions, we've certainly done very well, and that's a credit to our industry for all the biosecurity measures they've put in place and been diligent about following," said the minister.

"That being said, we know we're always at the mercy of migratory birds, so things could change quickly and we have to be prepared," said Morrow.

Just last month, the virus topped the agenda at an international meeting and there are fears it could infect humans.

In rare cases, it's already happened.

Despite concerns about returning migratory birds, Maritime chicken producers insist their products are safe for consumers.

"The chicken that you're buying from the store is safe,” said VanderHeide. “Nothing that would ever be infected with avian influenza would make it to the store shelf. But there isn't a high risk of it being transferred to humans.”

Still, she's urging people with backyard flocks to keep them clean and stay vigilant.

"If your backyard flock were to be diagnosed with it, it does have effects on other farms in the area, so it could cause some slowdowns in the supply chain," she said.