Avian flu at Langley farm will not affect egg supply, says marketing board
Posted December 15, 2014 10:53 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LANGLEY (NEWS1130) – Avian flu has been detected at a Langley egg farm.
This marks the 10th Fraser Valley poultry farm with a confirmed case of the virus, but the first involving a site that primarily produces eggs.
Al Sakalauskas, executive director of the BC Egg Marketing Board doesn’t think the infection will have a big impact on the local supply.
“We do have a large concentration of egg farms within that Aldergrove/Abbotsford area. But we produce approximately… 70 million dozen eggs a year. This particular farm, I think, had close to 20,000 layers on the farm, which they would, on an annual basis, produce maybe a half-million dozen. So, in terms of supply, this one particular farm won’t have a significant impact on supplying our table market for BC, at this time.”
Sakalauskas says he’s spoken with other egg farmers about their concerns.
“I think the industry is in a state of deep concern about this whole avian influenza spreading because a lot of the producers have memories from what happened in 2004, which was pretty catastrophic for the industry, in terms of depopulating not only layer farms, but chicken farms and turkey farms and everything else,” he tells us
“So, the concern… we have to get it under control. We have to stop the spread of the virus. All poultry producers are doubling down in terms of bio-security and making sure that everything they can do to keep the virus from spreading is top of their mind right now.”
He says a lot of precautionary measures are in place to limit the spread of the virus.
“Right now, the farmers are really vigilant about limiting access only to necessary personnel. They keep all their doors locked, and they have what is known as ‘control zones.’ You just basically can’t pass a control zone without taking bio-security protocol which is maybe spraying and wearing protective clothing. Feed trucks and egg trucks… have to have their wheels washed… with disinfectant going onto the farm and coming off the farm. Basically, there’s a a heightened level of hygienic protocols in terms of barn cleaning and disinfecting and such,” says Sakalauskas.
Eight countries have placed restrictions on BC poultry products.
