As many as 18,000 chickens and turkeys are either dead or will be destroyed after avian flu was found at two Fraser Valley farms, the same number that were culled from a single farm in Abbotsford during the early stages of a devastating outbreak in 2004.

In that outbreak — B.C.’s worst — the virus eventually spread to 42 farms and led to the culling of 17 million birds.

But industry experts are confident that measures introduced during the past decade will contain the latest outbreak at a turkey farm in Abbotsford and a broiler breeder farm in Chilliwack, and prevent widespread infection.

“B.C. is a world leader in developing practices that would help minimize the spread of any diseases,” said Michael Benoit, spokesman for the B.C. Turkey Farmers.

He said that visits to poultry farms are being kept to a minimum, and any visitors are logged in and out. Visitors are also required to wear disposable plastic boots to prevent cross-contamination, and delivery vehicles arriving at farms are washed and sanitized.

“We’re certainly monitoring the situation, and we’re certainly trying to do what’s best out there and ensure that we keep the spread of this disease to a minimum,” said Benoit, adding that farms are also providing disinfection foot baths for employees and visitors.

“At one farm, there was originally 11,000 birds, and over half have died from the disease,” noted B.C.’s chief veterinary officer Dr. Jane Pritchard in a conference call Tuesday after health officials said the presence of H5 avian flu was detected at the two farms.

“At the other farm, there were 7,000 birds and approximately 1,000 have died,” said Pritchard, noting that the birds were 83 days old and would have been targeted for the Christmas market. “The number of birds to be euthanized is a moving target at this point, but between the two farms 18,000 birds will have to be composted in the barns.”

The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has placed the two farms under quarantine to control the spread of disease and further testing by the agency is underway to confirm the severity of illness and to determine the strain of the virus.

Results are expected within days.

Officials said the province will help with required carcass disposal.

The CFIA said initial tests for the disease were conducted on Monday at a Ministry of Agriculture laboratory in Abbotsford, after both operations experienced sudden deaths of birds during the weekend.

Avian influenza viruses do not pose risks to food safety when poultry and poultry products are properly handled and cooked.

B.C.’s provincial health officer Dr. Perry Kendall said there haven’t been any reported cases of transmission to humans.

In the conference call, Dr. Harpreet Kochhar, Canada’s chief veterinary officer, said that there is no specific information on how the virus ended up at the two barns.

“There are multiple ways of transmission, either through migratory birds or through movement from infected barns to another, or from humans.

“We will have to undertake a full assessment of what is the cause.”