Brenda O’Farrell
The Advocate

The only confirmed case of avian flu in Quebec has been successfully eliminated, according to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.

The virus was detected at a commercial poultry operation in the MRC of Matawinie, in the Lanaudière region, on Jan. 31. The spread of the infection has been contained and any threat deemed eliminated, according to a statement released by the food inspection agency in late March. It was the only active case in the province. No other details were released.

At the beginning of May there were 10 active cases of bird flu in Canada, including three in Ontario, two in Saskatchewan, two in Nova Scotia and single cases in Manitoba, British Columbia and Newfoundland and Labrador. A third possible case in Saskatchewan as of May 5 was under investigation.

At the end of January, there were 37 active cases reported across the country.

Previously in Quebec, the agency has recorded a total of 58 cases of the infectious disease which have affected a total of about 1.46 million birds. Across Canada there have been 496 cases, with British Columbia being the hardest hit, with more than 8.7 million birds in that province affected.

Although the virus has been detected in a dairy herd in the U.S., no such inter-species transfer has occurred in Canada, a statement issued by the food inspection agency has claimed. Only poultry operations have been infected in this country.

The active cases in Ontario are located in the Township of St. Clair, south of Sarnia; the Township of Enniskillen, just southeast of Sarnia; and in the municipality of Middlesex Centre, near London.