It’s every poultry farmer’s nightmare.
Avian Influenza.
Bob McCauley was one of was one of only a few farmers in Ontario to realize the devastating impact of an outbreak firsthand and he shared his story Thursday at the Poultry Health conference in Stratford.
After having his entire flock wiped out, McCauley had to undergo an intensive cleansing program of his whole operation.
“There’s nothing we really could have done different because again Ontario’s never seen Avian Influenza not that we were immune to it with everything that’s gone on in the states," says McCauley. "I think we were, I don't think we were complacent at all or that any other growers were complacent I do believe that it just caught us by surprise. And I think it caught everyone else in the industry by surprise that it was here and just happened to be we were the unlucky host of this particular problem.”
Despite the traumatic experience, McCauley had nothing but praise for the way that the CFIA worked with him to negate the risk of infecting neighbouring farms.
With the memories of containment zones and sterilization slowly fading, he’s more than happy to put it all behind him.
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After having his entire flock wiped out, McCauley had to undergo an intensive cleansing program of his whole operation.
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Although they were aware of the danger ahead of time, McCauley said that the outbreak came as a shock but they were quick to take steps.
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