Agriculture Victoria said testing by the CSIRO Australia Centre for Disease Preparedness at Geelong confirmed a highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza at the poultry farm.
It’s a different strain from the ones that impacted Victorian, NSW and ACT poultry farms during 2024, which have since been eradicated.
Agriculture Victoria said staff were on the ground to assist control, support the business and investigate further.
A quarantine zone covering about 5km around the affected property and a control area in the eastern Strathbogie Shire have been set up to help stop the virus from spreading.
Victorian Acting Chief Veterinarian Cameron Bell said bird flu was commonly spread by wild birds, and praised the poultry business for alerting Agriculture Victoria as soon as it suspected the presence of disease in its flock.
“Unfortunately, despite the business having excellent biosecurity controls in place, poultry have been infected,” Dr Bell said.
“The business has acted quickly to identify the infection within the flock and are working closely with Agriculture Victoria officers to contain the outbreak.”
While cases among humans in direct contact with animals are possible, the current risk remains low.
Producers should have an on-farm biosecurity plan and know the signs of diseases that could affect their animals.
All poultry and bird owners across Victoria should follow the best biosecurity practices such as keeping poultry sheds, yards, aviaries and equipment clean, and restricting contact between poultry and wild birds.
Bird owners should also ensure their footwear is clean, always wash their hands before and after handling birds or eggs, and quarantine new birds before integrating with existing ones.
Eggs and poultry products from the supermarkets do not pose a risk and are safe to consume.
Agriculture Victoria urged poultry farmers, backyard flock and bird owners to report any cases of unexplained bird deaths to the 24-hour Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888, or to a local vet.
17°C