Reading Time: 2 minutes Quarantines on several poultry operations in southwestern Ontario could be removed by the end of next month, assuming no new cases of avian flu turn up in the region — just in time for another notifiable poultry disease to appear. The Feather Board Command Centre — the emergency response unit for the province’s chicken, turkey […] Read more
SW Ont. poultry sectors nearer business-as-usual, almost
Sysco sees U.S. bird flu hurting egg supply up to 18 months
Reading Time: 2 minutes New York | Reuters — Food distributor Sysco Corp. said on Friday that a record U.S. outbreak of avian flu would limit its chicken and egg supply for nine to 18 months, based on information provided to the company by its suppliers. Sysco is the biggest U.S. food distributor, whose clients include restaurants, hotels and […] Read more
Minnesota bans bird exhibitions over avian flu
Reading Time: < 1 minute Minneapolis | Reuters –– Minnesota officials on Friday banned all bird exhibitions in the state this year, including at the Minnesota State Fair, in response to an outbreak of avian influenza that has affected farms around the Midwest. Exhibitions at fairs, swap meets, exotic sales and petting zoos must not include birds for the rest […] Read more
Bird flu outbreak hits Nebraska
Reading Time: 2 minutes Reuters — The fast-spreading avian flu virus was confirmed for the first time in Nebraska, at a commercial egg-laying farm that housed a flock of 1.7 million chickens, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said on Tuesday. The case in Dixon County, Nebraska, brings the number of states affected by the outbreak to 16, and the […] Read more
Canada says will defend dairy protection at TPP talks
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters — Canada will continue to defend its system of tariffs and quotas that protect dairy farmers, a senior official said on Monday, in comments that could worry nations negotiating a Pacific trade treaty. Canada is under pressure at talks to create a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) because concessions sought by the other 11 […] Read more
H5N8 avian flu found in Indiana
Reading Time: 3 minutes Reuters — A strain of avian flu that until now had been found only in the western U.S. has cropped up in Indiana, bringing the total number of states affected by the virulent outbreak to 15, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday. The eastward spread of any strain of the highly contagious H5 virus […] Read more
Election timing puts Tories in bind on Pacific trade talks
Reading Time: 2 minutes Ottawa | Reuters –– Canada is facing a tough squeeze at talks on a major Pacific trade treaty because the concessions other nations want it to make could cause serious problems for the governing Conservatives in this October’s general election. Canada, one of 12 nations aiming to create the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), is under pressure […] Read more
H5N8-positive wild duck found in B.C.
Reading Time: < 1 minute Ongoing surveillance of Canada’s wild birds has turned up the country’s first-ever case of highly pathogenic H5N8 avian flu, in a duck carcass at a British Columbia bird sanctuary. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency on Friday reported the case to the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), noting such a detection in wild birds “should […] Read more
Iowa declares state of emergency over avian flu
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Iowa Governor Terry Branstad declared a state of emergency on Friday due to a rapidly expanding avian flu outbreak. State agriculture officials on Friday announced four more poultry farms — a million-bird commercial egg laying operation and three turkey farms — have initially tested positive for an H5 strain of the virus. “While […] Read more
Saudi Arabia bans Ont. poultry, egg products
Reading Time: < 1 minute Reuters — Saudi Arabia, the world’s second-largest importer of chicken broiler meat, has banned imports of poultry meat and egg products from Ontario due to the presence of avian flu on three Ontario farms. The market was worth about $825,000 in 2014, representing 0.4 per cent of Ontario’s poultry exports, said Patrick Girard, spokesman for […] Read more
A message from April Stewart, Country Guide's Associate Editor
