An infectious diseases expert has reassured consumers cooked eggs and poultry are safe to eat, as the nation grapples with the largest bird flu outbreak in its history.
Avian influenza was today detected at a commercial egg farm in Sydney's Hawkesbury region, making it the third state to be hit by the highly contagious disease.
Since May 23, millions of chooks and ducks in Victoria have been impacted by the deadly viral infection, after it was first confirmed on a poultry farm in the state's west.
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By June 17, seven Victorian farms were impacted by the high-pathogenic strain, including a duck farm.
A low-pathogenic, less serious avian influenza strain commonly found in wild bird populations was also detected at a poultry operation in WA.
The response to that detection is "winding up" according to the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development.
Egg farmer Brian Ahmed has helped run his family's third-generation egg farm in Werribee, south-west of Melbourne, for decades.
He fears our free-range farms could turn into breeding grounds for the deadly virus, given their exposure to wild birds who could carry the virus.
"Right now, the safest place for chickens is either in a barn locked up, or in cages," Ahmed said.
"When we take them off the ground and lock them up in the sheds, they don't mix with wild birds.
"They don't get to frolic in their faeces and things like that, so we're able to control diseases."
Ahmed's family farm has produced free-range, barn laid and caged eggs over the years.
But now, they stick to caged only, which Ahmed said was the only way to keep his chooks safe and control the disease.
"It was only a matter of when, not if this was going to happen," Ahmed said.
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In Victoria, there are restrictions on what what can be taken in or out of impacted properties.
All poultry farmers, backyard flock and bird owners in the control zones are ordered to house their birds in cages or sheds.
It's suspected more than a million birds will be culled in Australia to help stop the spread of bird flu, meaning egg prices could rise, as the egg supply falls.
Coles has already introduced a two-carton limit per customer everywhere but WA.
Selling his eggs directly from his farm to the public, Ahmed said sales have skyrocketed since the outbreak.
"If the supermarkets don't have eggs, just look around, your local fruiterer and deli and small IGAs, they'll have a good supply of eggs as well," Ahmed said.
Swinburne University of Technology professor of microbiology Enzo Palombo said eggs and poultry meat were safe to consume, provided normal food hygiene precautions were taken.
"The types of flu that have been detected in the farms in Victoria and Western Australia are not the types of flu that cause human disease or if they do cause human disease it's very rare and you have to be exposed to live infected birds," Palombo said.
Palombo recommended cooking both chicken and eggs well, given heat kills the virus.
"There have been reports in the past that have shown that the virus can potentially get through the eggshell because the eggshell has small holes, we call them pores, and they are bigger than the size of the viruses," he said.
"So potentially the virus can get inside the egg but that's only been shown in laboratory studies there's been no evidence of that happening in the real world."
But after decades of studying infectious diseases, Palombo said he was more concerned about the future potential of another pandemic.
"It all depends on how much flu is in circulation, so one of my recommendations is always have your annual flu vaccinations because the less human flu that's in circulation, the less likely there'll be chances of things evolving to be a hybrid bird/human flu," he said.
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2024-06-19 10:00:47Z
CBMilwFodHRwczovLzlub3cubmluZS5jb20uYXUvYS1jdXJyZW50LWFmZmFpci9leHBlcnRzLXVucGFjay1jb25jZXJucy1hcy13b3JzdGV2ZXItYmlyZC1mbHUtb3V0YnJlYWstY29udGludWVzLXRvLWdyb3cvYWU1NTNhNjctOWU2NS00MzA3LWIxMTAtZmQ1NGJkZDI0NDc40gFEaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAubmluZS5jb20uYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS9hZTU1M2E2Ny05ZTY1LTQzMDctYjExMC1mZDU0YmRkMjQ0Nzg
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