US curbs Australian poultry imports on bird flu concerns

The US has imposed import curbs on certain Australian poultry and byproducts from Victoria after a highly pathogenic avian influenza, or bird flu, was detected in domestic birds.

The US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service said on Saturday (AEST) the restrictions backdated to May 22 would continue until further notice.

A highly pathogenic form of bird flu can emerge when it mutates within high-density poultry flocks.Credit: Bloomberg

The order was prompted by an avian influenza outbreak on two farms in Victoria’s south-west operated by Avgo and Surf Coast Eggs Farms.

More than 500,000 chickens have been culled after cases of H7N3 were detected at the properties in at Meredith and Terang that share management, staff and machinery.

Unprocessed avian products and byproducts originating from or transiting the state of Victoria will not be permitted to enter the United States, the department said.

Imports of poultry, commercial birds, ratites and hatching eggs have also been prohibited. Pet and zoo birds may be imported under an import permit, subject to a 30-day quarantine in New York or Miami.

But Australian Chicken Meat Federation chief executive Mary Wu said the restrictions likely wouldn’t have a big impact on the local industry, although they could affect related poultry products like rendered proteins and pet food.

“The direct impact of the US trade restrictions will be very limited as Australia does not export fresh chicken meat to the US,” Wu said.

The federation was working to restore trade with the US “at the earliest opportunity” by working closely with Australian and American authorities.

Australia’s Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said it was “understandable” that the US had decided to restrict imports and work was underway to minimise trade disruptions.

No restrictions have been placed on bird products from other Australian states.

Victorian Farmers Federation president and egg farmer Danyel Cucinotta said export restrictions were never good news for farmers and the organisation was focused on containing the spread on local farms.

Cucinotta estimated the outbreak and related cull could rob retailers of 450,000 eggs per day and could take between six months to three years for the affected farms to return to normal production.

An Aldi spokesman told AAP this week that customers might notice gaps on shelves in some stores, while Woolworths said it didn’t expect the outbreak to affect its supply.

The US has also placed restrictions on bird products from other country regions with flu outbreaks, including parts of Japan and Canada.

Australia earlier this week reported its first human case of avian influenza in a child whom authorities said had been infected in India but made a full recovery, while a different highly contagious strain was found on an egg farm.

Since 2022, bird flu has infected more than 90 million chickens, 9000 wild birds, 52 dairy herds and three people in the US.

It spread to humans and other mammal species, including among US dairy cattle in March, raising concerns of it mutating into a virus that is transmissible between humans and sparking a pandemic.

However, the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention has said the risk to the public remained low.

Colombia in April became the first country to restrict the import of beef and its products from US states where dairy cows tested positive for bird flu, a sign of a broadening economic impact of the virus.

Bird flu has also been detected in beef for the first time, the US Department of Agriculture announced, but officials said the meat from a single sickened dairy cow was not allowed to enter the nation’s food supply and beef remained safe to eat.

The USDA said the virus was found as part of testing of 96 dairy cows that were diverted from the supply because federal inspectors noticed signs of illness during routine inspections of carcasses at meat processing plants. Bird flu was found in only one of those cows.

Bird flu has been confirmed in dairy cattle herds in nine states, has been found in milk and has prompted the slaughter of millions of chickens and turkeys. But finding it in beef is a new development for the outbreak, which began in 2022.

The Australian state of Victoria was the site of an H7N7 outbreak in 2020, the most recent of the country’s nine outbreaks of bird flu since 1976. All were quickly reined in and stamped out, according to Australia’s government.

Reuters, AAP, AP

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