WattAgNet: Canada lifts bans on poultry from Arkansas, Montana

Written August 18, 2015

Threat of spread of avian influenza appears to be over, says Canadian Food Inspection Agency

Canada has lifted its ban on poultry and poultry products from Arkansas and Montana, as the two states appear to now be free of avian influenza.

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) had banned all eggs, raw poultry and all poultry products and byproducts that are not fully cooked from U.S. states where avian influenza had been detected.

There was only one confirmed case of avian influenza in Arkansas in 2015. On March 11, the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) confirmed the presence of H5N2 avian influenza in a commercial turkey flock in Boone County, in the northwestern corner of the state. An estimated 40,020 birds were affected. However, avian influenza was never detected in any Arkansas broiler flocks.

Montana had two avian influenza cases, although neither was in a commercial poultry operation. One backyard flock was confirmed to have contracted the virus on April 2, while just days before that, the virus was found in a gyrfalcon. Both cases involved H5N2 avian influenza.

While bans on eggs, poultry and poultry products from those two states have been lifted CFIA, related restrictions remain in other states, including California, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Oregon, Washington and Wisconsin.