The Agroecology of Avian Influenza
A Forum
for British Columbia Specialty Birds Producers
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Research Opportunities for the
Specialty Bird Industry
Stewart
Paulson Industry Competitiveness Branch, BCMAL
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Avian Influenza and the Role of
Surveillance*
John
Robinson Animal Health Centre,
BCMAL
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Avian Influenza and Migratory
Birds
Ronald
Ydenberg Centre for Wildlife Ecology, Simon Fraser University
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Avian Influenza - The Human Health
Perspective
Andrew
Larder Fraser Health, BC
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Premise ID and Traceability
Solvej
Patschke Resource Management Branch, BCMAL
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AAFC and BCMAL Government
Funding Resources Available to the Specialty Bird Producers.
Elise
Legendre Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada (AAFC)
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Developments
and Improvements in the Avian Influenza Response
Daniel
Schwartz Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA)
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Sponsors
- Agroecology Program, University of British
Columbia
- BC Specialty Birds Association
- Specialty Birds Research
Committee, UBC Avian Research Centre
- BC Ministry of Agriculture and Land
BC Specialty Birds Association
Purpose Statement
The purpose of the BC Specialty Birds Association is to unite various
specialty bird growers and others involved in the specialty
bird industry…
To work towards greater stability in our industry, and,
To act as liaison
between growers, government, and others, and,
To develop standards of
ethics for members, and,
To
promote high standards for production, and,
To
gather and disseminate information for the benefit of our members,
and,
To
promote the marketing and sale of our products, and,
To
prepare, defend, and protect our industry against predatory
practices, and,
To
ally with other organizations and associations for exchange of
information.
The Province of BC has a very diverse commercial specialty bird
producer base, made up of some very small part-time farmers, through
to some large substantial fully integrated full-time producers. Raising
/ rearing practices are as varied as the species, and the particular
niche market being supplied. There are birds raised in poultry houses
typical of those in the mainstream chicken and turkey industries,
and there are also birds raised outside (free range / free run).
There are many smaller flocks of high value breeding birds as multiplier
stock is not always readily available, or the genetic stock has been
owned by the producer for many years, and has undergone breed development
and improvement over time. Often, the genetic stock itself is what
defines (or sets apart) one producer from another. Production cycles
vary from species to species, as well as from niche market to niche
market.
For many specialty birds there is no functional / organized market
management, no border controls, no production disciplines, and market
determines the price. There are many common challenges that specialty
producers can approach more effectively as members of a dedicated
organization. We invite producers and service suppliers to join the
British Columbia Specialty Birds Association by contacting:
Contact
Ken Falk, President
32351 Huntingdon Road,
Abbotsford, BC V2T 5Y8
Tel: 604-854-6776
Fax: 604-854 -1992
ken@twinmaple.com
Specialty Birds Research Committee - UBC Avian Research
Centre
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this research organization is to assist the BC Specialty
Birds Industry to be competitive, to overcome constraints to growth,
and to be sustainable by facilitating, funding and coordinating research
in the areas of economics and marketing, biology and genetics, environment,
production management, and food science
Contacts
Kim Cheng
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
University of British Columbia
kmtc@interchg.ubc.ca
Jim Thompson
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
University of British Columbia
jrthomp@interchg.ubc.ca
Stewart Paulson
BC Ministry of Agriculture and Land
Stewart.Paulson@gov.bc.ca
Valerie Stevens
PARC
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
StevensV@AGR.GC.CA
George Pang
P and G Pigeon Farms
Pang.george@gmail.com
Ken Falk
Fraser Valley Duck and Goose Ltd
Ken@twinmaple.com
Fred Silversides
PARC
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada
silversidesf@agr.gc.ca
Jack Vaandrager
Jaron Farms Ltd
jaron@uniserve.com
William Code
Songline Health Products
drcode@emu.ca
Rodney Reid
In Season Farms
isfarms@telus.net
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Research Opportunities
for the Specialty Birds Industry
Stewart Paulson MSc,PAg
Poultry Industry Development Specialist
Industry Competitiveness
Branch
BC Ministry of Agriculture and Land (MAL)
MAL Advisor to the Specialty Bird Research Committee
MAL Lead Avian Influenza Provincial Compensation Committee-2005
Member of the Avian Influenza Economic Impact Evaluation Committee-2004
Member of Poultry Industry Avian Influenza Biosecurity Committee
Member of the MAL/CFIA/AAFC/Poultry Industry AI Committee
Member of the Poultry Industry Risk Analysis Sub-committee
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- UBC has been granted $1.5 million by the BCMAL for conducting
research to remove constraints to growth in the BC specialty
bird industry over the next decade
- UBC will be contributing significant additional funds arising
from financial investment of the unutilized balance of
the $1.5 million each year
- A "Framework" document is the guide that defines the
appropriate use of these funds
- A Specialty Bird Research Advisory Committee (SBRC) has been
formed consisting of UBC, PARC, MAL and Industry reviews
research project proposals
- Matching money by industry for research projects is not required/mandatory
but may be voluntary
- Industry is encouraged to submit research ideas to members of
the SBRC for consideration
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Avian Influenza and the
Role of Surveillance
John Robinson, PhD
Head, Virology & Molecular Diagnostics
Animal Health Centre
BC Ministry of Agriculture and Land (BCMAL)
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Responsible for diagnostic virology and molecular diagnostic testing
for Influenza viruses of animals at the AHC in BCMAL
- Brief Overview of avian influenza (AI) virology
- Surveillance for AI in domestic & wild birds British Columbia
- World wide AI surveillance activities –International Waterbird
Conference 2005 summary and resolution
- AHC and it's future role in H5N1 avian influenza diagnostics
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Avian Influenza and Migratory Birds
Ronald
Ydenberg, PhD
Professor and Director
Centre for Wildlife Ecology
Simon Fraser University
Burnaby, British Columbia
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“I'm interested in the evolution and ecology of avian influenza,
particularly the interaction with migratory birds. I was an invited
speaker for the Avian Influenza Symposium organized by the International
Waterbird Society (Tainan City, Taiwan. November 2005). I also participated
in the Bird Flu Summit in Washington, DC, February 2006.”
Highly pathogenic (HP) avian influenza type A of the sub-type H5N1
has recently spread widely and rapidly across Eurasia, and even to
Africa, with deaths of both wild and domestic birds recorded. There
are fears that it may soon spread to the Americas. Media accounts,
communications from international bodies and national governments,
and even some of the professional research literature attributes the
spread to movements of HP strains by migratory birds. The origin of
highly pathogenic strains is by these same sources attributed to mutations,
or to reassortment of virus genes from different host species. There
are reasons to be skeptical about both these hypotheses: at the very
least they are incomplete. I review these hypotheses in light
of knowledge about the ecology and evolution of avian influenza, looked
at from the viewpoint of its natural reservoir - waterbirds. New
technologies have revealed that the genome of avian influenza contains
much variation beyond that recognizable by classical antibody techniques,
and have established avian influenza as a rapidly evolving and diversifying
lineage. The ecological conditions favoring the evolution of
high virulence are unlikely to exist in wild populations of birds,
but modern, large-scale poultry production creates all of the conditions
thought to favor high virulence. The extensive genetic variability
in the viral genome and extensive reassortment within host species
suggests that high pathogenicity could repeatedly and independently
evolve from low pathogenic ancestors under appropriate selection pressures,
such as those in poultry production systems. This makes infection
of wild birds by HP lineages evolved in poultry a more likely occurrence
than the reverse. The available evidence largely fits this model. Recommendations
to help reduce the incursion of domestically-evolved avian influenza
strains into wild populations of birds are needed as badly as the reverse.
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Avian Influenza - The Human Health Perspective
Andrew Larder FRCPC
Specialist in Community Medicine
Medical Health Officer, Fraser Health
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Led the Fraser Health response to the Fraser Valley avian influenza
events in 2004 and 2005. Currently a participant in the process to
revise the BC FADES Plan.
- Avian Influenza (AI) Viruses of all types are a potential threat
to human health
- All AI viruses readily undergo mutations and other changes to their
genetic make-up. The more times the virus replicates, the greater
the chance that changes will occur
- Some of the genetic changes that take place may make it easier
for the AI virus to cause illness in people, and spread directly
from person to person
- AI-infected commercial poultry flocks are settings where there
is massive virus replication and workers are exposed to enormous
numbers of virus particles
- Human infection with AI viruses can cause illness ranging from
mild self-limiting symptoms to overwhelming, life-threatening disease.
- Poultry workers are at direct risk from the AI infected flocks.
However poultry workers also provide a potential route by which an
AI virus could gain access to the rest of the population.
- Given the right conditions this transmission chain (birds, poultry
workers, general population) could trigger the next influenza pandemic,
with truly devastating consequences for us all
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Premise ID and Traceability
Solvej Patschke MSc, PAg
Strengthening Farming Program
Resource Management Branch
BC Ministry of Agriculture and Land (BCMAL)
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“During the 2005 AI event, I worked on mapping poultry premises. Since
then, I have been working closely with the poultry industry on the
development of the BC Poultry Premise Identification Initiative. One
of my roles is to ensure that this initiative is compatible with national
programs (such as the Canadian Livestock Identification Agency) and
with other commodities. “
- Describe the pillars of traceability; animal ID, premise ID and
movement data
- Describe national programs of premise identification
- Provide history of identifying premises relative to the 2004 and
2005 AI events
- Provide a outline of the process involved in developing a BC premise
ID system that can be mapped
- Benefits of participating in the process
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Agriculture and Agri-Food and Ministry of Agriculture
and Lands Government Funding Resources Available to The Specialty
Birds Producers.
Elise Legendre, MBA
Marketing and Trade Officer
Agriculture and Agri-Foods Canada (AAFC)
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“Since October 2005, I have been involved with the Poultry Industry
through the Industry Advisory Management Committee. My role is
to help the industry achieve the goals identified in the BC Poultry
Industry Biosecurity/Emergency Response Strategic Plan. I am
also involved in the BCPA Biosecurity Committee and the Livestock Waste
Tissue Initiative as the federal ex-officio.”
- On Farm Biosecurity Initiative
- Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Program
- Canadian Agriculture Income Stabilization Program
- Other potential
funding sources
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The Canadian Food Inspection Agency: Developments and
Improvements in the Avian Influenza Response
Daniel Schwartz, DVM
Abbotsford Animal Health District Veterinarian
Canadian Food Inspection
Agency (CFIA)
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“As the Field Operations director for the CFIA's Avian Influenza
(AI) response in 2004 and 2005, I have gained a considerable knowledge
about the AI virus and the methods and means to have effective disease
control. I have field experience with and have coordinated the operational
activities with respect to all aspects of the joint CFIA AI response
including surveillance, humane depopulation, disposal, decontamination,
and compensation among others.I am a scientific and technical advisor
to the BC Poultry Association, and sit on a variety of CFIA and Provincial
technical boards. I have lectured and presented on AI at a number
of forums within North America.”
