00:00 We have learned that in previous outbreaks in poultry that these viruses do sometimes
00:07 spread.
00:08 And if you look at the approach that was taken by Agriculture Victoria, rather than only
00:12 quarantine one farm, they actually set out quite a large control area in anticipation
00:17 of something like this happening.
00:19 How has it got into the chicken population?
00:22 So this virus is probably coming from Australian wild birds.
00:26 So in our wild bird population we actually have quite a lot of avian influenzas, but
00:31 the strains that we have are benign.
00:34 Sometimes these benign strains go from wild birds into chicken populations and there they
00:38 evolve or mutate to become these very deadly viruses.
00:43 And that's most likely what has occurred here.
00:45 So it's not come from migratory birds then bringing it from other parts of the world?
00:50 No, it is not.
00:51 It is most closely related to viruses that are circulating in Australian wild birds.
00:55 Okay, as I mentioned, it's not the strain that has caused so many problems and in fact
01:02 the first person has died in Mexico from that.
01:06 So what does this strain or these two strains do to birds?
01:12 So these highly virulent strains, these strains that are quite nasty, are actually really
01:16 terrible for birds.
01:18 And this includes both poultry as well as wild birds.
01:21 It can make them really sick and it can cause a lot of mortality, so it can kill them.
01:25 Okay, so what is the biosecurity that goes with locking down a chicken farm?
01:34 So it's not just one chicken farm, it's actually quite a large area that is now under biosecurity
01:40 measures.
01:41 So Agriculture Victoria has put in a housing order that means poultry in certain parts
01:46 of the state must now be kept inside, so you can't have free-range chickens outside anymore.
01:52 There are also movement restrictions and control, that means you can't move any chickens around,
01:58 you also can't move around things like feed or equipment between farms to try to prevent
02:04 the spread.
02:05 And what about the workers?
02:06 We saw some putting on biohazard suits, they have to fully suit up, do they, all the time?
02:11 So it's really important for any workers that may be exposed to this virus to wear appropriate
02:16 PPE.
02:17 While these Australian lineage viruses of the H7 have not caused human infections, we
02:22 do know that H7 has caused human infections overseas, so it's very important that all
02:27 poultry workers who are dealing with infected farms be wearing PPE.
02:31 As I mentioned, something like 600,000 chickens will be culled at these farms.
02:36 What does the farm do then?
02:37 Does it have to wait for a period before it can restock?
02:41 So all the poultry will need to be culled and the premises will need to be cleaned,
02:47 and only once the farm passes the OK from Agriculture Victoria can they potentially
02:52 start restocking again.
02:55 Would you, given the evidence of other outbreaks in other countries, would you think that this
03:02 can be locked down and stopped in its tracks, or is it something that we will be dealing
03:07 with over the coming months and years?
03:10 So Australia has a really good record of eradicating these homegrown domestic variants of avian
03:16 influenza in poultry.
03:17 You may remember that in 2020 we actually had quite a significant outbreak of avian
03:22 influenza around Lethbridge, also caused by these homegrown H7 viruses, and these viruses
03:29 were eradicated from poultry population.
03:31 And so I have great confidence that Agriculture Victoria will lead a really effective response.
03:37 There is of course concern about the viruses that are circulating overseas.
03:42 Those viruses, that strain H5N1, is much more difficult to control because it actually replicates
03:49 and spreads quite well in wildlife, so that's wild birds and mammals, and is not so sort
03:54 of adapted to poultry as these H7 viruses are likely to be.
03:58 [BLANK_AUDIO]
