Reducing avian influenza risk with proper mortality management

Mortality management has always been a part of the On-Farm Food Safety Program requirements and the importance of these measures has been underscored with recent learnings from highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) cases. CFIA has indicated that mortality management on some Infected Premises (IPs) has been a concern for the spread of HPAI to other barns and the surrounding environment.

Some key points to remember and reinforce with all farm staff:

1. Proper disposal: mortality should never be left outside while awaiting proper disposal. Instead, mortality should always be in closed bins, taken directly to the disposal site, frozen and stored for later disposal, or other measures that ensure dead birds are not left outside.
2. Management of compost piles: compost piles must be managed in a way such that they do not attract wild animals or scavenger birds or allow access by wild animals and scavengers.
3. Rendering bins and transport: rendering bins should be kept closed to avoid access by wild birds and animals; transportation of mortality to the rendering bin should be done in closed containers; and bins should be placed near the road on pick-up days to prevent the rendering truck from coming onto the farm.

The risk with improper mortality management is that it may attract wild birds to the farm, and those wild birds could potentially bring avian influenza with them. In some cases, domestic birds have contracted avian influenza with a mutation that is usually present in mammals that are infected, indicating the scavengers likely ate a mammal that had HPAI and then subsequently passed that on to the domestic flock. The more the virus mixes between birds and mammals, the more chances there are for new mutations to develop.

This is becoming a greater concern for CFIA and the Public Health Agency of Canada as infection and spread among wild mammals is an increasing concern for public health.