From a farmer's perspective, once a flock is diagnosed with AI, automatically the farmer is basically removed from even entering their barns and that. CFIA takes control of it and they put a quarantine in place around that facility. Once that occurs, then the CFIA will order those birds to be euthanized. Once the birds are euthanized, then we go through the process of cleaning up that farm and getting it back to a point where it can repopulate.
It's basically a cleanup, which is like a white-glove cleanup on-farm. It takes several months to actually get to that point. What also ends up happening during that quarantine time is that there is a buffer zone that is established around that farm. Within that, there are restrictions that occur around transportation within that zone. Also, anything on and off that farm just does not occur until such time as they get a clean bill of health.
The impact on farmers is not just financial. When you take a look at the mental toll this takes on our farmers, it's gruelling for them. We understand the process we have, and we need to have that process to ensure the safety and no more spread of the flu.
It's a very stringent process we undergo.