Avian flu takes its toll on Quebec farmers: 'I don't want to go through that again'

Poultry farmer Corry Spitters walks through one of his hen houses in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on Thursday, November 10, 2022. LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Darryl Dyck

Cases of highly pathogenic avian influenza were first detected in Quebec in 2022. Since then, more than a million birds have been infected, hurting affected farmers and keeping those spared on their toes.

Since the beginning of the year, three farms have reported the presence of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza; the most recent case dates back to April 10, according to the Ministry of Health. This bodes well for the time being, compared with 28 affected sites in 2023 and 23 in 2022.

According to the latest data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), 1.4 million birds have been infected in Quebec, making it the third most affected province behind Alberta (1.8 million) and British Columbia (6 million).

However, the summer season has only just begun, and growers are more concerned about the fall when migratory birds -- which spread the disease -- are numerous over the fields.

"We can't help but think about it, especially during migratory periods ... When you're walking on the farm and you hear geese flying overhead, you can't say that you think it's pretty anymore, it worries you more because you hear the noise and all kinds of images come into your head and the dangers of contamination," said Benoît Fontaine, General Manager of the Équipe québécoise de contrôle des maladies avicoles at the Union des producteurs agricoles (UPA).

The UPA also offers services to keep birds away from agricultural sites.

Pier-Luc Leblanc, a turkey and poultry farmer in the Montérégie region, had a real ordeal in December 2023 when the virus entered one of his buildings despite all the biosafety standards.

Leblanc is pleased with the number of cases in 2024, but he's not letting his guard down.

"For the fall, we're not out of the woods, but we'll get there. In my case, there were a lot of migratory birds the week before I was infected," he says.

In Quebec, when a case is detected, all the birds on the farm must be euthanized, and the buildings must be disinfected from top to bottom.

"The fear isn't the financial loss, it's reliving all the steps involved in restarting the site. We don't want to lose any money in life, but we do want to think about euthanizing the birds and composting. Washing isn't so bad ... but euthanizing and composting, I'm scared to death, I don't want to go through that again", Leblanc said.

Jean-Pierre Vaillancourt, a professor at the Université de Montréal's Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, points out that breeders have an emotional attachment to their animals on many levels.

"They're people who take pride in what they do, and they provide a source of quality protein that doesn't cost too much," he said.

Fontaine confirms that this is "a very serious trauma" for some breeders. "We're there at the heart of farm families and psychological support at the Union des producteurs du Québec to support people going through this ordeal," he said.

Food waste is also a consequence.

"We raise these animals for ultimate consumption, but not to destroy them along the way while they're still teenagers. It's a waste of food, it's a financial loss, and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency -- which does an excellent job -- still takes control of your farm. So you're home but you're not. It's traumatic," Fontaine said.

Composting carcasses

By 2023, Leblanc owned three buildings with a total of 32,000 turkeys and four buildings with 90,000 chickens. All had to be slaughtered.

He will remember for the rest of his life the call from the vet with the bad news. "Your legs fall off as you go," he recalled.

From that moment on, he felt enormous pressure.

"Life stops spinning. Everything you have around this site doesn't matter anymore, family, there's nothing that matters anymore. You react to protect. And at the same time, you're not without thinking about the financial risk. You're thinking about the birds you won't sell," he said.

Leblanc's immediate concern was to ensure that his staff were safe, given the risk of human contamination, albeit minimal.

On Leblanc's farm, the euthanasia procedure was completed in five days. Carcasses cannot be moved elsewhere to avoid spreading the disease. Dead birds must be composted on site, a particularly difficult step.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on July 1, 2024.