The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) has moved quickly and decisively to quarantine a farm in Saskatchewan and has confirmed the presence of avian influenza (AI).

The Agency has a great deal of expertise and experience in handling situations like this and I have every confidence in their ability to take the necessary measures to appropriately resolve this situation as expeditiously as possible.

The most important thing to note at this time is that the domestic poultry industry is safe and free from H5N1 which has been associated with human illness and that this H7N3 is unlikely to cause human sickness.

Let me be clear: this situation does not affect food safety when poultry is properly cooked. None of the infected products from this farm were destined for the human food supply.

I would like to thank the farmer for following procedure in alerting authorities immediately, which meant CFIA officials were able to take immediate action.

I am informed by my officials that they are working closely with their colleagues from other federal departments and jurisdictions and to keep me informed of the situation to ensure that I can track the progress and findings.

Hon. Gerry Ritz, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food