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Bird flu has been detected in Australia but authorities are yet to determine if it is the same highly pathogenic strain that has spread to every other continent, including Antarctica.
The avian influenza virus was detected at an egg farm near Meredith in western Victoria after a number of poultry deaths.
Agriculture Victoria said the property had been placed under quarantine and samples had been taken to the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong to determine the virus subtype.
Australia is currently declared free of all high pathogenicity (HPAI) strains of avian influenza.
A global outbreak of the H5N1 subtype of HPAI has killed millions of wild birds and thousands of mammals on six continents, and devastated commercial bird populations.
It has spread to more than 40 species of mammals, including polar bears, and is widespread among dairy cattle in the United States. But Australia has so far not recorded any cases.
Only one case has been reported in a human, a man in Texas who had been in contact with dairy cows. The World Health Organisation has said the spread of the virus to dairy cattle is an “enormous concern” but the director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, this month said the virus had so far shown no signs of adapting to human to human transmission and public health risk remained low.
Victoria’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Graeme Cooke, said preliminary testing had confirmed the presence of bird flu and Agriculture Victoria was supporting the business with further laboratory investigations.
Cooke urged poultry farmers, back yard chook owners and other bird owners to report any unexplained bird deaths to the 24-hour emergency animal disease hotline or to their vet.
Agriculture Victoria said that while there were cases of HPAI in humans, the current risk to the public remained low. They added that egg and poultry products “do not pose a risk and are safe to consume”.
Bird farmers and owners have been urged to maintain strong biosecurity practices and be on the look out for symptoms, which include sudden death, respiratory ailments, conjunctivitis and swelling of the head.
There have been eight outbreaks of HPAI influenza strains in commercial bird farms in Australia since 1976, all of which were successfully eradicated.
The largest was in Victoria in 2020, which involved three strains: highly pathogenic H7N7 avian influenza was detected at three egg farms; low pathogenic H5N2 influenza was detected at two turkey farms; and low pathogenic H7N6 influenza was detected at one emu farm. The outbreak was declared over on 26 February 2021.