Murray Watt declares any spread of H5 bird flu to Australia’s poultry industry could devastate sector

Any spread of avian influenza to Australia’s poultry industry could have serious consequences for Australia‘s economy, Environment Minister Murray Watt has warned.

In the past two weeks, four cases of the deadly disease – also known as the H5 bird flu – have been confirmed in migratory birds.

Three of these cases were in Western Australia and one in South Australia.

Prior to this, Australia was the only continent in the world free of the highly contagious pathogen.

The H5N1 strain has decimated wildlife overseas and is linked to the recent deaths of 13,000 baby seals in Antarctica – about 75 per cent of the population – as well as millions of birds around the world.

However, despite the four cases confirmed in Australia there have been no reports of any infections in commercial or agricultural settings, Senator Watt told Sky News Sunday Agenda.

“It’s pleasing that at this point in time we only have four confirmed cases and they’re all migratory birds that have flown in, most likely from islands below south of Australia,” he said.

“So it’s good that it hasn’t spread more widely than that.”

But Senator Watt warned any mass outbreak could devastate both Australia’s wildlife and its $8bn poultry industry.

“That would be very, very serious and damaging economically,” Senator Watt said.

“There’s no reports at all of any poultry in a commercial setting having bird flu, and we’d like to see it stay that way.”

He sought to reassure Australians by pointing out the country had “a couple years to get ready for this compared to other countries”.

“We’ve got very good preparedness plans in place that are already rolling out,” he said.

In response to the threat, Australia’s largest poultry producer had shut down its WA chicken breeder farms.

Ingham Company revealed this week the move would affect farms in Muchea, Gingin and Mogumber, north of Perth.

The company has banned all non-essential access at its farms and processing centres across Western Australia.

It is also seeking an order to allow free range poultry to be kept indoors from WA’s Chief Veterinary Officer.

A member of the public reported five giant petrels at Roses Beach in WA last week. Out of these, only one returned a “suspected positive result” for bird flu, WA Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis said on Saturday.

The day prior, another giant petrel found in Quindalup, in southwest WA, was confirmed to test positive.

Ms Jarvis said there were still no signs of mass mortalities, or detections in poultry or wildlife.

“There is no evidence of disease transmission here on the Australian mainland,” she said.

South Australia confirmed its first case of avian influenza on Wednesday, with one bird testing positive after being found at Knights Beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula.

WA has two confirmed cases of H5 bird flu. One was a sick brown skua was found on a beach and taken to a wildlife hospital, another was a giant petrel was found four days later.