AS the body count of birds rises and the spread of H5 bird flu continues its way up the East Coast and inland, Australian poultry farmers and even backyard chicken owners are being warned to take biosecurity measures now.
The NSW Government’s response to the deadly virus is led by the State Coordination Centre (SCC) at the Orange Agricultural Institute.
More than 300 personnel have been working at the SCC since it was stood up in June, with dedicated teams of experts covering logistics, operations, communication and planning.
This includes staff from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and from Health and Aboriginal Affairs.
The NSW Minister for Agriculture Tara Moriarty this week visited the centre.
“I also wanted to make a call out to people who have backyard chickens or aviaries to now take precautionary actions, if they haven’t already, to protect their birds from H5,” Ms Moriarty said.
She highlighted the need for backyard chicken and captive bird owners to now take biosecurity measures to reduce the risk of their birds being infected or transmitting H5.
These measures include:
– Maintain cleanliness in sheds, yards, aviaries and equipment
– Provide clean water and keep birds away from natural water sources such as streams and ponds
– Limit wild bird contact by placing food and water inside shelters, and using netting for free-range birds
– Isolate new birds before adding them to a flock
– Limit visitors and check if they’ve been around other birds
– Practice good hygiene when interacting with birds.
Ms Moriarty stressed that public reporting was a critical part of the response to H5 bird flu, with more than 4,500 calls received by the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline since June.
Every call from members of the community and NGOs involved with wildlife are triaged and investigated.
The terminology on reporting on the flu outbreak has also changed. Governments nationally have agreed to report publicly on H5 bird flu using the term ‘event’. An event is a single investigation that may involve one or more birds from a site, and the NSW Government will report H5 cases using this nationally consistent approach.
Presently NSW has had 13 events of H5 bird flu, predominately around the far south coast.
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