Avian flu: the animal breeding sector receives 5 million dollars

The allocated funds come from the $200 million investment for food security presented earlier in March.

Traveling to Chilliwackthe Minister of Agriculture, Pam Alexisacknowledged the many challenges facing the agricultural sector in the face of numerous outbreaks of avian influenza that occurred earlier this year, particularly on commercial poultry farms.

Invest in a sector considered essential

The $5 million envelope will allow farmers to prevent or prepare for disease, according to the minister.

British Columbia’s agricultural sector brings so much to communities across the provinceshe notes. It feeds its neighbors and our economy.

In addition, this amount will allow the livestock and poultry sector, in particular, to implement emergency plans and train personnel, in addition to purchasing essential equipment in the event of an outbreak, specifies the minister.

Spring promotes contamination

This is an amount that is not negligible. It gives hope that it will allow to take initiativesanalyzes Professor Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Montreal.

Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt fears that the arrival of spring will favor outbreaks of the bird flu virus. (File photo)

Photo: Radio-Canada / Pier Gagne

However, spring on our doorstep means the return of migratory birds, which can carry the disease, while the Fraser Valley is a territory where a large production of ducks [est] interspersed with turkey broiler productionsexplains the member of the Swine and Poultry Infectiology Research Center in Montreal.

According to Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, this particularity might favor the appearance of the virus in this region of the province.