11.12.2004

Rick Thiessen of the B.C. Chicken Growers' Association was cited as saying that Ottawa showed it has no idea how to contain a virulent virus, acting so slowly it was too late to stop avian influenza from snaking through B.C. chicken coops and forcing the destruction of 17 million birds.
Thiessen was further cited as saying the Canadian Food Inspection Agency needs to own up to mistakes if it wants farmers to co-operate in future because now, many fear the agency will only make an outbreak worse and would rather deal with it themselves, adding, "They left birds alive, fans running, pumping the virus out into the air for days. It was spreading, they were taking days to make a decision because everything had to go through Ottawa. They couldn't handle the volume. … We'll likely go in there and do our own pre-emptive cull before CFIA is even aware of a suspected case. We can't afford to play around with this ever again. It was tough enough to have this happen once, we're not going to let it happen again."
CFIA veterinarian Cornelius Kiley was cited as dismissing Thiessen as one farmer who's choked about lost wages and is looking for someone to blame, adding, "Human nature, when one goes through a severe economic crisis, is to look around for who to blame. That is something we did not do. The agency, through its expertise, helps manage these serious animal diseases. Let's think about who is responsible. Who is ultimately responsible is each and every individual who owns poultry. The legal responsibility clearly resides with the poultry producers."
Calvin Breukelman, who raises poultry down the road from the first two farms that were infected and quarantined by the CFIA in March, was quoted as saying, "The holes in their biosecurity were enormous. On the first farm, they hauled all the birds outside and started grinding them all up and mixing them with manure and sawdust and leaving them in compost piles outside. The idea is to contain the virus inside the barn. Putting that much dust into the air was a recipe for disaster."
The story says that at this point, it's impossible to tell whether the virus had already been walked onto the second infected farm or if the disposal operation at the first property was the catalyst for what came next.
B.C. Agriculture Minister John van Dongen was cited as saying farmers across the hot zone have been slinging these accusations for months. He has asked Ottawa to give them a public forum to vent, adding, "If these people aren't given a chance to say their piece, these feelings are just going to fester and make improving our co-operation more difficult."
Kiley was cited as saying the federal government hasn't responded to the request and vehemently denies any responsibility, adding, "The agency's officers were using full biosecurity measures, including the wearing of masks, boots and suits. As we moved between farms we had strict protections in place. Staff only went to one farm each day. In between, they wouldn't go to another farm. Any suggestion that the agency could have spread the virus are unfounded."
Breukelman was further cited as saying he was most appalled at the disposal experiments CFIA carried out on the second farm, and that he watched from his property as inspectors moved live birds outside the barns and ran them through an electrocution device to kill them quickly.
Van Dongen was further cited as saying the biggest mistake the agency made was the delay in sending their key people with decision-making powers to British Columbia's hot zone.
The high pathogenic virus was mutating and spreading by the minute while scientists spoke over a three-hour time change and were forced to stop and explain things to people who were thousands of miles away.