No Further HPAI Detected After More Than 4,000 Samples Tested In Otago

Farms linked to Mainland Poultry’s Hillgrove site,
which tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza
(HPAI H7N6) on December 1, have been confirmed as free of
the virus after testing on thousands of samples at the end
of the full incubation period for the disease, says the
Ministry for Primary Industries.

And there are no
signs of the disease anywhere else, providing confidence
that HPAI has been restricted to one property, MPI’s chief
veterinary officer Mary van Andel says.

“On Sunday,
we took about 4300 samples from 36 flocks across five farms
linked to Mainland’s Hillgrove layer property, where HPAI
H7N6 was confirmed earlier this month, to coincide with the
end of the full incubation period for the virus and none
returned positive results.

“It is a significant
number of tests and gives us confidence that this virus has
been contained to just the one property and that we are on
track to stamp out this disease.”

Dr van Andel says
the Hillgrove site remains under a strict biosecurity
lockdown as it undergoes cleaning and
decontamination.

“The response effort will continue
into the New Year with work to clean and decontaminate the
Hillgrove site taking place over a number of weeks. It needs
to be done carefully to ensure all traces of the virus have
been removed.

“We will work with Mainland Poultry
regarding an appropriate stand-down period for the property
once decontamination is complete. MPI is working closely
with the affected farmer on the matter of
compensation.”

Dr van Andel says the clear
incubation period testing will help ongoing discussions with
trading partners regarding New Zealand poultry exports and
highlights the benefit of responding quickly to the bird flu
find alongside industry.

“I want to acknowledge
Mainland Poultry for working closely with us to stamp this
out.

“MPI has had more than 200 people working on
this response and the quick work to depopulate the
approximately 200,000 chickens at Hillgrove, was the right
decision.

“In total we’ve carried out more than
5600 tests on samples and bird flu has not been found
anywhere other than Hillgrove.

“We’re in close
contact with relevant trade partners and to date, we’ve
reached agreement with Australia to continue the export of
some poultry products, including chicken meat, dried pet
food, and dog rolls that meet avian influenza heat treatment
requirements, worth more than $50 million.

“It’s
important to note that while there are common elements
across markets, solutions are agreed with each country,”
says Dr van
Andel.

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