AVIAN INFLUENZA SURVEILLANCE EFFORTS.

The governments of Canada and British Columbia are investing CAD$ 300,000 (€200,000) to strengthen the surveillance, early detection, and response measures to avian flu. The funding will be used to enhance the resources at the Ministry of Agriculture's Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford, British Colombia with specialized equipment to diagnose samples collected in the Ministry's avian flu surveillance efforts. The Ministry of Agriculture will also be targeting owners of small poultry flocks by hosting workshops in different regions focusing on poultry health, and the sharing of information and resources such as the Small Flock Poultry Health Manual. Funds will also be used to support a rapid response to any future outbreaks by having mobile equipment to help any infected poultry premises with the humane depopulation of infected bird populations within the province at all times and to train more people in the use. Education about the virus and biosecurity procedures are paramount to prevention and spread of the bird flu virus.The basic clean, wash and disinfection on farms , better management practices and restriction of visitors to farms play vital roles to stem spread of diseases. Early detection/diagnosis is key to prevent incidence in other farms and wide spread infection over a wide radius range to prevent economic losses. Ministry of Agriculture staff began a pilot surveillance project that collected sediment samples at ponds and wetlands used by wild waterfowl following the December 2014 avian flu outbreak in the Fraser Valley. A research group has worked at developing cutting edge technological advances to be able to test the samples collected from the pilot project for the presence of avian flu strains. Funds will be used to transfer this new technology to the Animal Health Centre. As the pilot project evolves into ongoing surveillance, the ability to diagnose the samples quickly at the Animal Health Centre will greatly enhance early detection efforts. Source; portions of story from world poultry.