Bird flu spreads to Canberra property with chickens set to be euthanised

A case of bird flu has jumped borders again, driving up the number of affected Aussie farms to 11.

The bird flu outbreak has spread to Canberra, pushing the number of farms affected nationally to 11.

Tests detected the presence of the H7N8 strain at the Pace Farms facility in Canberra, the same strain that has affected eight farms in Victoria and two in NSW.

One million chickens will now be destroyed, with a quarantine order set up around the poultry farm which will include a 10km radius of the affected site.

“As is being reported widely, eggs and chicken meat are not affected by avian influenza and both are safe to eat. We are encouraging people to continue enjoying their favourite Pace Farm eggs,” the company said in a statement.

The bird flu outbreak in Victoria is taking a toll on egg supplies. Picture: Zoe Phillips

Contact tracing established a direct link between an infected property in NSW with the egg-grading facility in the ACT.

And while no live and infected chickens had been brought into the ACT, avian influenza can be transported on other equipment, including trays, trucks and egg cartons.

Woolworths customers have now joined Coles in limiting purchases of eggs to two cartons as the bird flu outbreak worsens.

The two-pack purchase limit had been introduced in NSW, the ACT and Victoria to manage stock delays.

NSW FARM AFFECTED

An outbreak of bird flu was detected on a second farm in Sydney’s Hawkesbury region, with more than 86,000 chickens to be culled.

The CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) confirmed on June 22 that the latest outbreak was the HPAI H7N8 strain of avian influenza.

It was the same strain that was found in another farm, just 1.5km away, the week before.

A total of 330,000 birds across the two farms will have to be destroyed

A biosecurity emergency was declared in the Hawkesbury region after avian influenza killed 8000 birds and another 240,000 were euthanised on a poultry egg farm.

The CSIRO national research laboratory confirmed Avian Influenza H7N8, or bird flu, was detected in a mixed barnyard and free-range poultry farm in the Hawkesbury area.

The H7N8 strain found at the Hawkesbury farm is not the same strain linked to the current outbreaks in Victoria, which has affected seven farms. The strains affecting Victoria are H7N3 and H7N9.

The bird flu has been detected on a NSW chicken farm. Picture: Erol Ahmed

NSW officials have enacted its Emergency Animal Disease response, which will place the farm in quarantine to prevent the further spread of the disease.

NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said consumers shouldn’t be concerned about eggs and poultry products from supermarkets.

Ms Moriaty said they were acting on the bird flu outbreak and would do everything to work through this challenging time for the egg and chicken meat industry.

“NSW consumers should not be concerned about eggs and poultry products from the supermarkets, because this detection does not pose a risk to consumer health and the products are safe to consume,” Ms Moriaty said.

“As always people should handle and cook using the standard procedures.”

NSW Premier Chris Minns has also called for calm and said he didn’t anticipate any challenges to supply.

“There’s no reason to panic in relation to this,” he said.

“The information that we’ve received from the experts who are tasked with setting up a quarantine and ensuring the safety of agricultural products is that it’s contained to this one site.”