The presence of bird flu has been confirmed in the ACT, with chickens set to be euthanised at a commercial property that runs an egg-grading facility.
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The presence of the H7N8 strain of the disease has been directly linked to an outbreak in NSW, giving biosecurity authorities confidence avian influenza in the ACT remains contained.
The outbreak had been identified at the Pace Farms facility on Parkwood Road in MacGregor, The Canberra Times understands.
Pace Farms, which did not respond to questions on Thursday, released a statement this week confirming it was managing an outbreak at its farm in the NSW Hawkesbury region.
"As is being reported widely, eggs and chicken meat are not affected by avian influenza and both are safe to eat. We are encouraging people to continue enjoying their favourite Pace Farm eggs," the company said on Monday.
Contact tracing efforts established a direct link between an infected property in NSW with the egg-grading facility in the ACT.
Confirmation bird flu was present in the ACT was received by the territory government on Thursday morning.
Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said the affected property had been fully contained and biosecurity measures were in place.
"We are confident that we have acted quickly to contain the affected site with a low risk of spread to other poultry in the ACT from this site," Ms Vassarotti said.
"However, the fact that is has now appeared across three jurisdictions is a timely reminder of biosecurity incidents and it should prompt all poultry owners to continue to follow biosecurity measures."
No live and infected chickens had been brought into the ACT, however, avian influenza can be transported on other equipment, including trays, trucks and egg cartons.
The egg-grading facility is understood to have good biosecurity procedures in place and has been made biosecure for several days.
Ms Vassarotti said the site was cooperating with the ACT government to respond to the outbreak.
The government would not name the site due to national biosecurity response standards and to avoid adding stress to the business, she said.
"Given there's no risk to Canberra at this stage, there's not really any utility in naming the facility publicly," Ms Vassarotti said.
"Our priority now is working with the impacted business and really focusing on animal welfare and support for the staff."
Biosecurity officials are currently assessing the number of birds that will need to be killed under agreed national plans for the management of bird flu outbreaks.
The ACT government received information on Tuesday morning the premises contained animals that could be infected with influenza.
Test results were later confirmed at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness laboratories, run by the CSIRO in Geelong.
ACT health authorities believe there is a low risk to human health, with no reports of current human avian influenza cases in the territory.
People potentially directly exposed to avian influenza at the ACT property will be contacted directly by ACT Health.
Poultry owners have been encouraged to be aware of the risk of avian influenza and ensure they follow good biosecurity practices, including preventing their poultry from having contact with wild birds.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
