The Independent

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency says the second outbreak of Avian flu this month in Lambton is in St. Clair Township.

Lambton Public Health announced CFIA and the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture and Food are investigating a second case Tuesday just days after an outbreak was detected on a commercial Enniskllen poultry farm March 13. While the Avian flu has been detected in two poultry flocks, public health says there have been no human cases at this point.

The investigation in St. Clair is also in a commercial flock.

CFIA doesn’t identify the exact location of the outbreak but places restricted zones around the location the avian flu was found and puts restrictions on the movement of birds in a wider area.

The latest restricted movement zone stretches from Petrolia Line on the north to Plowing Match on the east, to Moore Line on the south and Brigden Road to the East.

A larger protective zone reaches almost to Petrolia and west to Kimball Line as well as north to the rail line and south to Oil Springs. It’s roughly a 10-kilometre square around the restricted zone.

The two protective zones in St. Clair and Enniskillen cover a wide portion of Central Lambton, surrounding Petrolia.

After a suspected avian flu case is identified, the access to the farm is blocked off with staff using personal protective equipment in the barns. CFIA officials head up the investigation and oversee the culling of the flock, the disposal of the dead birds, the cleaning and disinfection of the barns. The provincial agency is also notified so other poultry farmers are aware of the presence of avian flu.

The process is long and costly. The virus can live for very long periods of time, up to three months according to the Chicken Farmers of Ontario. Barns where avian flu is detected can be empty for months while the decontamination process takes place.

This is the third Avian flu outbreak in southern Ontario in less than a month. The other was in the Komoka area. The protective zone for that outbreak stretches into Warwick Township.

There are eight outbreaks across the province. So far over 1.175 million birds have been put down.