Australian authorities have announced the detection of highly pathogenic avian influenza at a commercial poultry egg farm near Sydney. The H7N8 strain of the virus was found, which is different from the H7N3, H7N9, and H5N1 strains detected in neighboring Victoria state.
According to New South Wales state Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty, the detection is understood to be a separate spill-over event, potentially from wild birds.
The farm in the Hawkesbury region in Sydney’s west has been shut down, and biosecurity control measures will be extended to up to 2 km (1.24 miles) around the farm site. Moriarty emphasized that the detection of the bird flu does not pose a risk to consumer health, and poultry products are safe to consume if they are cooked as per standard food handling practices.
Australia has experienced nine outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza since 1976, all of which were contained and eradicated. Three of those outbreaks were in New South Wales, with the most recent one occurring in 2013.