Bird flu: Second avian influenza case found in northern Victoria outbreak

Avian influenza has been found at a second property in northern Victoria. See the latest.

Update: Friday, February 14

Avian influenza has been found on a second property at Euroa.

Those within the control area with more than 50 poultry are now required to house their birds.

Agriculture Victoria this week found the presence of the H7N8 strain of bird flue at another property, officials said on Thursday night.

Victoria’s acting chief veterinary officer Dr Cameron Bell said the finding was not unexpected given that Agriculture Victoria had been conducting testing to determine where it was.

“There are known connections between the properties, which was how we identified high-priority testing sites early, even before disease was suspected,” Dr Bell said.

Owners of poultry properties in the region had co-operated with testing and Dr Bell said

Agriculture Victoria was supporting the impacted businesses.

“After we confirmed the first property last week, we implemented restricted and control areas immediately to mitigate risks of disease spread,” he said.

There is a control area in place which runs from east of the Goulburn Valley Highway for Strathbogie Shire, and includes townships Euroa, Violet Town, Longwood, Ruffy, Avenel and Strathbogie.

“If you are in the control or restricted areas, you cannot move birds, products (including eggs and manure) or equipment into, out of, or within the area without a permit,” Dr Bell said.

“This includes selling or giving away eggs from your poultry – these must not leave your property.”

And there are now requirements for those with more than 50 poultry to house their birds if they are within 5km of the affected property. This includes the Euroa area.

“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.

“This H7 strain is different from the H5N1 bird flu strain spreading in other areas of the world and impacting wildlife.

“Victoria’s poultry sector has experience with H7 bird flu from 2020 and 2024, and we remain grateful that Australia is free from H5 bird flu.”

But Dr Bell said those who ran poultry in backyards should not be complacent.

“Whether you have a few chooks in your backyard or have a commercial poultry farm, there are some things you can do to improve your biosecurity practices and reduce the risk of your birds becoming infected,” he said.

They include:

- restrict contact between pet birds, poultry and wild birds;

- prevent access by wild birds to food and water sources for your birds;

- keep equipment and yards or aviaries clean;

- limit visitors to birds;

- bird owners should wash their hands before and after handling birds, and

- monitor birds’ health and report sudden death in poultry.

“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 said eggs and poultry were still safe to consume.

Sunday, February 10

Authorities have confirmed a northern Victorian farm with avian influenza is a commercial property.

Victoria’s Acting Chief Veterinarian Cameron Bell confirmed at a conference in Bendigo on Sunday, the property with detected avian influenza H7N8 strain was commercial.

The property owners had alerted authorities to the suspected case last week.

He said at this stage, they were unable to reveal the number of affected birds due to privacy reasons.

“Some large egg farms were impacted during last year’s event, and it’s disappointing to be in this position again,” he said.

“Fortunately this time the farm is not one of our larger egg facilities, so we do expect impacts on supply from this event will be less.”

Dr Bell said the 2024 outbreak response had been completed, and the affected properties had “essentially” returned to normal.

“It’s fair to say both government and industry have learnt a lot from [Victoria’s 2024] significant outbreak, both on a state and national level, and we’re implementing those lessons in this particular response,” he said.

“At this point in time in the outbreak, my focus is on responding quickly, controlling the disease and minimising those types [industry supply chain] of impacts.”

Saturday, February 9

A northern Victorian poultry farm is under quarantine after authorities detected a new strain of avian influenza.

It comes just three weeks after authorities confirmed the successful eradication of Victoria’s previous strains.

The CSIRO Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness used diagnostic testing to confirm a high pathogenicity H7N8 strain.

The H7N8 strain is different to the avian influenza strains that closed Victorian poultry farms near Meredith and Terang in 2024.

Agriculture Victoria announced the new case of avian influenza on Saturday, and that staff were assisting control and performing a further investigation.

It said a control order would be established under the Livestock Disease and Control Act 2024, which meant a 5km restricted area around the Euroa property, and control area in the eastern part of Strathbogie Shire.

Victoria’s acting chief veterinarian Cameron Bell said the business acted quickly to identify the infection and alert biosecurity authorities.

“Avian influenza is commonly spread by wild birds, and unfortunately, despite the business having excellent biosecurity controls in place, poultry have been infected,” he said.

People in direct contact with infected poultry could be affected, but risk to the public remained low.

Victorian poultry and bird owners must keep sheds, yards, aviaries and equipment clean, and restrict contact between poultry and wild birds.

People should keep footwear clean, wash hands before and after handling poultry and produce, and quarantine new birds before integrating with existing ones.

Any suspected cases can be reported to their veterinarian, or the 24-hour emergency animal disease hotline is 1800 675 888.

Originally published as Bird flu: Second avian influenza case found in northern Victoria outbreak