Second farm returns positive test for deadly bird flu as 400,000 cull continues
Bird flu has been detected at a second Victorian farm as authorities remain on high alert for further outbreaks.
FILE - Red Star chickens roost in their coop, Jan. 10, 2023, at Historic Wagner Farm in Glenview, Ill. U.S. chicken producers want to do their part to bring down current soaring egg prices by selling their 400 million excess eggs to food producers. But first, they have to convince the FDA to change the food safety rule that prevents that. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley, File)
The case of Avian influenza (H7N3) was confirmed at a property in Terang, 200km southwest of Melbourne, on Thursday.
The site is linked to the Meredith egg farm, 130km away, where a mass culling of 400,000 chickens is taking place after a number of poultry died from the same virus.
Both farms share management, staff and machinery.
Agriculture Victoria said the Terang property was under quarantine and officers had extended control orders to include a 1.5km restricted area.
A 5km restricted area has been placed around the Meredith farm and both sites are subject to a broader control area buffer.
“We encourage the community to play their part so we can suppress and eliminate this outbreak,” Victoria’s chief veterinarian Graeme Cooke said.
“Poultry owners who reside within the restricted and control areas are asked to follow the restrictions and to report any unexplained bird deaths.
“While cases among humans in direct contact with animals infected with highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses are possible, the current risk to the public remains low.”
In WA, biosecurity measures have been tightened at a poultry farm in the state’s southwest after an unrelated strain of avian influenza was found.
Authorities say the WA detection is a H9N2 strain and not connected to the Victorian outbreak.
“H9 strains of avian influenza are known to occur in wild bird populations in Australia and have previously been detected in WA,” the state’s acting chief vet Katie Webb said.
“The property is currently under a pest control notice to manage the movement of relevant animals and products off the property.”
On Wednesday, a child was confirmed as Australia’s first human case of a lethal strain of avian influenza spreading around the world.
The child, who returned to Victoria from India in March, experienced a “severe infection” after contracting the H5N1 strain but has made a full recovery, Victoria’s chief health officer Clare Looker confirmed.
Authorities say contact tracing has not identified any further cases.
The Victorian detection of avian influenza has put egg farmers on high alert across Australia.
“Any biosecurity outbreak becomes concerning to us as farmers,” egg farmer and Victorian Farmers Federation vice-president Danyel Cucinotta told AAP.
Ms Cucinotta said Australia’s poultry industry faced a recurring risk of avian influenza.
“We are on a wild bird flight path, especially from Southeast Asia, and that just means we’re at a higher risk all the time,” she said.
The Victorian egg farmer said producers were taking extra precautions.
“Anything coming into the farm, such as trucks, could bring in disease. It could be people. It could be packaging, it could be pellets,” she said.
Avian influenza is a highly contagious viral infection that can cause severe symptoms and sudden death in domestic poultry, wiping out entire populations.
Wild birds are the natural host for the disease and it can spread through close contact or contaminated environments.
Authorities have reassured the public that eggs and poultry products in supermarkets do not pose a risk and are safe to consume.
