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Remaining Movement Restrictions Lifted in Southern BC Bird Flu Detected On Kentucky Poultry Farm FDA Clears Test For Bird Flu In Humans U.S. Poults Placed for 2009 Slaughter Down 10% Year-to-Date KFC Launches Kentucky Grilled Chicken (USA) Pilgrim's Pride Closing Poultry Processing Plant Conferences, Courses and Workshops Planning for the business and social aspects of the Convention is almost complete and it is shaping up to be a great Convention. If you have not done so, you are encouraged to make your hotel reservations and register for the Convention and the Golf Tournament right away. There are still sponsorship opportunities for both the Convention and the Golf Tournament. Please consider sponsoring some aspect of the Convention. Advertising requests for the convention booklet have been coming in well but there are still interior spots available. Contact Susan at the Ottawa office for details on remaining advertising and sponsorship options. Finally, if you would like to contribute prizes to the Golf Tournament please let us know. SEE YOU IN MONCTON !! Remaining Movement Restrictions Lifted in Southern BC The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has lifted all remaining movement restrictions on birds and bird products in southern British Columbia. No additional cases of avian influenza were found during extensive testing of commercial poultry in the area. Humans are rarely affected by avian influenza, except in a limited number of cases when individuals were in close contact with infected birds. Nevertheless, public health authorities took all precautionary measures as warranted and there was no reported human illness associated with this outbreak. The movement restrictions were put in place following the discovery of low pathogenicity H5N2 avian influenza in a commercial poultry operation on 24 January 2009. During the ensuing investigation, the CFIA declared a second operation infected on 11 February. All birds on the two farms were humanely destroyed and composted on-site in accordance with international standards and provincial environmental requirements. "The fact that this outbreak was quickly contained and eliminated clearly demonstrates why Canada's animal health system is among the best in the world," said Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food. "The cooperation of affected bird owners, industry and our provincial and municipal partners played a key role in the success of our response." Infected farms must remain under CFIA surveillance for 21 days following the cleaning and disinfection of barns, vehicles and equipment. Both farms have passed this 21-day period and are free to introduce new birds onto the property and resume regular operation. "The coordinated efforts of all levels of government provided an unprecedented response to this outbreak," noted Ron Cantelon, B.C. Minister of Agriculture and Lands. "By working together, we were able to minimize the impact to industry and get those affected back into business as quickly as possible." As a final step in the outbreak response, the CFIA will conduct broader testing of poultry operations in B.C. Consistent with the guidelines of the World Organization for Animal Health, this surveillance will allow Canada to regain its status as an avian influenza-free country. British Columbia Members have received information on this announcement and on the CFIA surveillance plans, directly from CPEPC. The Post Outbreak Surveillance Program is underway. As you know from previous Highlighter articles, CFIA is targeting approximately 230 farms to be tested in the 90 day period prior to mid-June. As of today, 100 farms have been selected for testing, 85 of them are scheduled or completed and the first 19 results are in…all negative. CFIA is working with industry to do their best to ensure that no birds from a selected farm go to slaughter unless they have tested negative. Any members wanting more information are urged to contact Robin at Council office. In the April 3rd edition of Highlighter we incorrectly noted that “…Mark Davies - Chairman, Wayne Kroeker – Vice Chairman and Cameron Lavallée – Executive Member were all re-elected to their positions on the TFC Executive Committee for another year.” Actually, Mrs. Ingrid DeVisser, Turkey Farmers of Ontario’s representative to TFC for the past number of years, was elected to replace Cameron as TFC’s Executive Member. During the TFC AGM in March, Chairman Davies thanked Cameron for his work over the past years and congratulated Ingrid on her appointment to the Executive and wished her well. CPEPC and Highlighter would like to add our congratulations and best wishes to Ingrid, along with our apologies for the earlier reporting error.
Bird Flu Detected On Kentucky Poultry Farm A western Kentucky poultry farm that produces hatching eggs for Perdue Farms has been quarantined following the detection of a non-pathogenic or low-pathogenic avian influenza. Kentucky State Veterinarian Dr Robert Stout quarantined the poultry farm, reports Greenfield. He said that the state and federal government and Perdue are acting aggressively to contain and eliminate the disease. “There is no evidence that any infected poultry are in the human food supply as a result of this infection. We will do what is necessary to minimise the disruption to overseas trade.” Perdue plans to depopulate the 20,000 chickens in two houses on the farm, and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture is also conducting surveillance of backyard flocks within a 2-mile radius of the farm. Russia bans poultry from Kentucky - The USDA has also reported that "fresh/frozen poultry meat derived from birds raised or processed in the State of Kentucky and slaughtered on or after April 3, 2009, is ineligible. Meat derived from birds slaughtered prior to April 3, 2009, is eligible". 07 April 2009 14:21:14 GMT www.worldpoultry.net FDA Clears Test For Bird Flu In Humans The US Food and Drug Administration has cleared for marketing a new, rapid test for the detection of influenza A/H5N1, a disease-causing subtype of the avian influenza A virus that can infect humans. The test, called AVantage A/H5N1 Flu Test, detects influenza A/H5N1 in throat or nose swabs collected from patients who have flu-like symptoms. The test identifies in less than 40 minutes a specific protein (NS1) that indicates the presence of the influenza A/H5N1 virus subtype. Previous tests cleared by the FDA to detect this influenza A virus subtype can take 3-4 hours to produce results. “This test is an important tool to help quickly identify emerging influenza A/H5N1 infections and reduce exposure to large populations,” said Daniel G. Schultz, M.D., director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “The clearance of this test represents a major step toward protecting the public from the threat of pandemic flu.” In clinical studies, the test correctly identified the absence of infection in more than 700 specimens. In addition, the test correctly detected the presence of influenza A/H5N1 virus subtype in 24 cultured specimens from infected patients. AVantage A/H5N1 Flu Test is manufactured by Arbor Vita Corporation, located in Sunnyvale, Calif. www.worldpoultry.net
U.S. Poults Placed for 2009 Slaughter Down 10% Year-to-Date Turkey producers have continued to respond to relatively poor returns by placing fewer poults than in the prior year in the month of March. According to USDA data, 9% fewer poults were hatched in March 2009 than were hatched in the same month last year. Traditionally, poults placed after September 1 of the prior year until the end of August the market year are considered to make up all of the placements for the market or calendar year. Turkeys placed for the first seven months of the market year 2009, from September 1, 2008 until the end of March 2009, were 10% fewer in number than for the same period in market year 2008. Watt Poultry
KFC Launches Kentucky Grilled Chicken (USA) Kentucky Fried Chicken has announced a second secret recipe has been added to its menu – Kentucky Grilled Chicken (KGC). This announcement marks the launch of this revolutionary new non-fried menu item, which is now available in KFC stores throughout the US. The cooking process includes a blend of spices that is proprietary to KFC and utilises custom-designed, patented ovens, making it KFC's second secret recipe. With between 70 to 180 calories and 4-9 g of fat depending on the piece, Kentucky Grilled Chicken provides a non-fried option. www.worldpoultry.net Pilgrim's Pride Closing Poultry Processing Plant Aimed at improving capacity utilisation and reducing costs, Pilgrim's Pride announces plans to close its chicken processing plant in Dalton, Ga., US, within 60 days and consolidate production at the company's processing facility in Chattanooga, Tenn., US. Approx. 280 employees who work at the Dalton plant will be affected by the closing. Pilgrim's Pride will provide transition programmes to employees whose positions are eliminated to assist them in securing new employment, filing for unemployment and obtaining other applicable benefits. The hatchery in Cohutta, Ga., will continue to operate. Other live production operations will also continue to function, but as a part of the Chattanooga complex or other nearby operations. Approx. 120 independent contract growers who currently supply birds to the Dalton processing plant will be transitioned to begin supplying the company's Chattanooga plant or other nearby company facilities within approx. 90 days. There will not be any disruption in the supply of product to retail, foodservice and industrial customers as a result of closing the Dalton facility. "The closing of the Dalton plant is part of our plan to maximise our capacity utilisation and operate more efficiently as a market-driven company," said Don Jackson, president and CEO. "We will continue to look for opportunities to improve our cost structure as we reorganise the company. While the decision to eliminate jobs is always painful, we are taking decisive steps now to protect the greatest number of jobs in order to restructure our business and ultimately emerge from Chapter 11 as a stronger, more efficient competitor." www.worldpoultry.net
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