LANGLEY, B.C. — The president of an industry group representing B.C. poultry farmers says the avian flu outbreak has been contained.
Ray Nickel of the B.C. Poultry Association says it has been three weeks since the last commercial farm was infected.
He says six of the 11 affected sites are in the final stage of recovery, meaning they have begun washing and disinfecting their barns.
Once the cleanup has been approved by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, those farmers will have to wait another three weeks until they can restock.
The remaining five farms are still undergoing a "bio-heat" process designed to eliminate the virus through high temperatures, before entering the final stage of recovery.
However a statement from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency says it would be "premature" to declare the outbreak over and it continues to assess the situation.
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