By Ruby Pratka
Local Journalism Initiative
About 60,000 ducks were slaughtered in a preventative cull last week at Brome Lake Ducks after a single duck tested positive for H5N1 bird flu (also referred to as highly pathogenic avian influenza or HPAI) at one of the company’s breeding facilities.
For privacy reasons, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) does not reveal the specific locations of bird flu outbreaks at commercial poultry farms, but the company confirmed the outbreak had occurred on its premises in a statement sent to La Voix de l’Est. The company told the paper that it was concentrating on putting in place the disinfection measures mandated by the CFIA, and did not plan to comment further. The company had not responded to requests for comment from the BCN by press time.
Products purchased from Brome Lake Ducks remain safe to eat; according to the CFIA, there is no evidence that eating cooked poultry or eggs can transmit the virus to humans.
However, there have been isolated cases of humans catching the virus through contact with live birds, hence the practice of preventive culls. “A key part of managing HPAI outbreaks is the humane culling of infected domestic flocks,” a CFIA information document states. “Culling methods are quick and humane and aim to minimize suffering and distress. This measure is also extremely important in limiting spread of the virus and its opportunity to amplify, change and infect other species, including humans.”
On Sept. 15, the CFIA designated a large swath of the town of Brome Lake a “primary control zone” for HPAI, requiring all poultry farms operating in the area to conduct certain surveillance operations to detect suspected bird flu cases. Farms in affected areas are also asked not to bring new hens or baby birds onto their premises during this time. Farms where an infection has been detected are required to remove contaminated products through burning, burial or other approved methods; thoroughly clean and disinfect all affected surfaces and equipment, through a six-step process approved by the CFIA, before the measures can be revoked. For two weeks following the disinfection procedure, farms have the option of either implementing strict surveillance measures to ensure the outbreak is over, or letting the facility sit empty for two weeks.
This is the second time Brome Lake Ducks has been faced with a bird flu outbreak since the virus became endemic in Canada in 2022. That year, an outbreak hit four of its production facilities, leading to the culling of 200,000 birds. Three hundred employees were laid off during the time it took for the company to safely restart its operations. At the time, director of operations Angela Anderson told reporters it would take about a year, and several million dollars, for operations to return to normal. Farms are not reimbursed for costs associated with managing a bird flu outbreak; the business must absorb the costs of the cull itself, the disinfection process and any lost earnings.
In a statement, the Town of Brome Lake alerted residents to the outbreak and advised bird owners to disinfect places where birds were kept and limit contact with wild or commercially raised live birds. It advised small-scale poultry producers to limit the number of visitors to their farms and “avoid all contact, for example, personnel sharing” with larger operations.