AGRICULTURE Victoria has praised the quick actions of a commercial Euroa poultry farm confirming on February 8 the presence of avian influenza at the site.
Tracing practices have since detected the same strain of avian influenza at a new property last Thursday, with both locations now under quarantine
Known business connections between both Euroa poultry farms allowed AgVic to quickly detect a second outbreak of bird flu virus.
Victoria’s acting chief veterinary officer Cameron Bell said the detection was not unexpected and that AgVic was continually undertaking testing to understand where the disease was present in the region.
Dr Bell said AgVic was 'on the ground' and supporting impacted businesses.
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Using known connections AgVic identified high-priority testing sites early, even before disease was suspected.
"After we confirmed the first property last week, we implemented restricted and control areas immediately to mitigate risks of disease spread," Dr Bell said.
The control area spans east of the Goulburn Valley Highway for Strathbogie Shire, and includes Euroa, Violet Town, Longwood, Ruffy, Avenel, and Strathbogie.
With the confirmation of the second outbreak, a housing requirement has been introduced for producers with more than 50 poultry in the restricted area.
The restricted zone is a smaller area than the control area and includes Euroa and extends approximately five kilometres from the affected properties in all directions.
"With Victoria’s experience responding to H7 bird flu outbreaks, we know the greatest risk is to larger producers, who have more movement on and off their property," Dr Bell said.
"A strong biosecurity system relies on everyone playing their part; immediate notification from properties when they notice their poultry are unwell is crucial to us getting on top of this outbreak," Dr Bell said.
He commended the original poultry business for alerting AgVic as soon as they suspected the presence of disease in their flock.
A private vet who had been brought in to investigate poultry deaths on the property, submitted samples to the Agriculture Victoria diagnostic laboratory.
Testing was then performed by the CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness at Geelong confirming the strain found to be the highly pathogenic H7N8.
H7N8 is different from the strains eradicated in outbreaks in Victoria, New South Wales, and ACT last year.
The strain detected is also different from the H5N1 avian influenza strain that is impacting the USA and other parts of the world.
All 76,000 chickens at the first property are being safely and humanely destroyed and disposed of, with Victoria’s acting chief veterinarian Cameron Bell confirming it could be weeks before the property is declared free of the strain.
"Avian influenza is commonly spread by wild birds, and unfortunately, despite the business having excellent biosecurity controls in place, poultry have been infected," Dr Bell said.
“The business is working closely with Agriculture Victoria officers to contain the outbreak.”
Dr Bell said that though the affected property was a commercial egg farm, consumers should not be worried about major impacts to supply.
According to the Australian Eggs managing director Rowan McMonnies, the new outbreak is in a remote area and relates to a relatively small farm.
