Avian flu at a poultry farm in BC

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has confirmed it has discovered the presence of highly pathogenic avian flu, better known as H-5-N-1, at a commercial poultry operation in B-C.

The agency says it will now set up additional primary control zones as needed around the infected zone, currently centred around the communities of Yarrow and Barrowtown 90 kilometres east of Vancouver.

Since an outbreak began in 2022, H-5-N-1 has forced farms in B-C and across Canada to cull millions of birds when an infection is found.

In March, B-C's Ministry of Agriculture says it found eight dead skunks in Vancouver and nearby Richmond, B.C., that tested positive for H-5-N-1.