August 31, 2023 – Ottawa, ON
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) would like to remind fur producers that feeding raw animal products, specifically those from poultry and other birds, poses a risk of disease transmission to the animals being fed.
Fur producers are encouraged to take the following measures to reduce the potential risks of transmitting animal diseases – such as H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) – to their animals:
Recommended practices:
- where feasible, consider alternatives to raw feeds of animal origin
- know the source of raw feeds of animal origin
- only obtain raw animal products (such as raw poultry or livestock) from sources that have determined the products are free of disease
- do not feed carcasses of wild birds or mammals to farmed mink or foxes.
- do not use poultry or livestock from farms experiencing a disease outbreak in the flock or herd, even if the sourced poultry or livestock appeared healthy before slaughter
- be particularly vigilant if introducing a new food source
- treat raw food products to reduce risk
- use cooking, hydrolyzing, acidification, feed supplementation, and other treatments mitigate the risk of pathogens and/or their ability to cause disease
- monitor your mink/foxes for signs of disease
- know the signs of disease that may be associated with feeding foods of animal origin, including food poisoning such as botulism, and infectious diseases such Salmonella or HPAI
Given the susceptibility of numerous mammals (including mink and foxes) to HPAI and other diseases, the CFIA would like to remind fur producers to consult the National Farm-Level Mink Biosecurity Standard and apply best practices from the National Farm – Level Mink Biosecurity Standard – Producers' Guide. Ingestion of contaminated bird carcasses is a known route of HPAI virus transmission and can cause significant clinical disease and death in farmed mink and foxes.