The government of Victoria state in Australia said on Wednesday that a very harmful type of bird flu has been found on a fourth poultry farm near Melbourne. This farm is near two other farms where the virus was already detected.
“Avian influenza virus has been confirmed at a fourth Victorian poultry farm,” the government said in a statement.
The farm reported detecting the H7N3 strain of the virus, which is different from the H5N1 strain that has spread globally through bird and mammal populations and even into humans.
H7N3 has now been detected at three farms near the town of Meredith, and the H7N9 strain has infected a farm near Terang, about an hour and a half’s drive eas
The state government said all the poultry at the farms would be killed and disposed of. That adds up to hundreds of thousands of birds, a small fraction of Australia’s total.
Authorities have placed affected farms in quarantine and imposed movement restrictions in the surrounding areas. Local bird owners must keep their birds enclosed to minimise contact with wild birds that could spread the virus.
According to the government, before the latest bird flu cases, Australia had contained and eradicated nine outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza since 1976.
Officials say there is no risk to the public from eating eggs and poultry meat.
With Inputs from Reuters
