The highly contagious avian flu has been detected at a poultry egg farm in NSW, sending the farm into immediate lockdown, as the state enacts its emergency biosecurity measures.
The detection was made at a property in the Hawkesbury district, about 50km from the Sydney CBD, with official testing from the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness confirming the virus as High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI).
However the H7N8 strain is not linked to the curent virus plaguing seven farms in Victoria, and believed to be a seperate spill-over event, or even from wild birds.
NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said the state will now enact the its Emergency Animal Disease response, which will place the farm in quarantine to prevent the further spread of the disease.
“High pathogenic diseases spread quickly and have a high mortality rate among poultry birds, which is why there has been an immediate lock down of the farm,” she said.
“A formal control order will be declared this afternoon that will extend biosecurity control to a radius of 1-2 kilometres around the farm site.”
She said the government’s Biosecurity Incident Management Team was liaising with the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Diseases, and the National Emergency Animal Disease Management Group to discuss the immediate next steps.
Ms Moriarty urged calm and said “NSW consumers should not be concerned about eggs and poultry products from the supermarkets”.
“This detection does not pose a risk to consumer health and the products are safe to consume, if they are handled and cooked as per standard food handling practices.
“The Government will work closely with industry to reduce the risk of spread and minimise any impact on egg supply.”
More to come