Issue 2, 16 September 2024
The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) is working with the Department of Conservation (DOC), the Ministry of Health, Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora, industry bodies and others to prepare for the possible arrival of HPAI.
Together we are developing a response plan that includes approaches to protecting native bird populations, commercial poultry and human health.
Alongside central government and the sector, regional councils and territorial local authorities will have an important role to play. We are working with these agencies on what that would involve.
A range of advice is being developed to guide readiness preparations, including on protecting health through use of personal protective equipment for people who might be exposed to HPAI; disposal, cleaning and disinfection; biosecurity measures for backyard poultry and other bird owners; and guidance for veterinary clinics and rehabilitation centres with avian patients.
A key element of MPI’s work to prepare for HPAI is supporting farmers and growers to strengthen on-farm biosecurity and resilience, with the aim of reducing the impact on the sector and ensuring the domestic supply of poultry meat and eggs.
We are also working closely with industry groups the Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand and Egg Producers Federation on our operational planning, which covers 6 areas of preparedness:
- depopulation
- disposing of dead poultry
- decontaminating commercial facilities after infection
- understanding how movement controls would be applied to limit the spread of disease
- what surveillance and tracing would be needed
- whether vaccination would be an option for commercial facilities.
What is HPAI and why are we concerned about it?
High pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) is a highly contagious viral infection that can affect all species of birds, both wild and domestic.
Although HPAI viruses have been around for many years, the new H5N1 strain virus that emerged in 2020 can infect a much broader range of wild birds and spread across a larger geographical range than previous strains have. Overseas, this strain has infected more than 500 species of birds and has also infected around 60 mammal species, including marine mammals, companion animals and livestock.
H5N1 is spread through contact with infected birds. Infected birds shed the virus in their saliva, nasal secretions and faeces (droppings). If HPAI H5N1 arrives in New Zealand, it could spread to other wildlife or poultry by direct contact between infected and healthy birds, or through contaminated equipment and materials, including water and feed.
MPI is working closely with the poultry industry on readiness planning and MPI Director-General Ray Smith is meeting monthly with the chairs of the Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand and Egg Producers Federation.
We are learning a lot from the experience of the United Kingdom, Australia and the United States, though we need to consider what will work best in the New Zealand context.
Read more about our surveillance and planning on our website: Surveillance, planning and our One Health approach
Preparing for HPAI – learning from overseas’ experiences
New Zealand’s geographic isolation has protected us from high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) in the past, but we can’t rely on it forever. Given the unpredictable journey of wild birds that could be carriers of the H5N1 strain, it may still arrive here. While we can’t prevent that, we can work together to reduce its impact.
To that end, representatives from the Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand (PIANZ), the Egg Producers Federation (EPF) and MPI staff visited Victoria (Australia) and the United Kingdom (UK) to learn from their responses to HPAI.
Although Australia does not have the H5N1, the strain of HPAI we are particularly concerned about, its response to the current H7 outbreak provided useful insights for the New Zealand delegation.
The UK has had two years’ experience responding to the wildlife adapted strain of HPAI and is similar to New Zealand in terms of geographic size and environment. The delegation to the UK met with the British Poultry Council and the British Egg Industry Council, the Chief Veterinary Officer for the UK and staff from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) – the government agency responsible for managing the UK’s response to HPAI.
The trip also included visits to broiler farms and a hatchery, a laying farm unit and egg packing station, and a wildlife reserve.
The delegation heard from UK farmers that taking on-farm biosecurity seriously and implementing key measures can significantly reduce the risk of HPAI spreading from wild birds to commercial facilities.
UK egg and poultry experts said that, at a minimum, New Zealand farmers need to do the following to reduce risk:
- ensure anything going into sheds is protected from wild bird contamination
- protect each shed individually
- prevent water getting into sheds (potentially contaminated water from outside can bring avian influenza inside)
- ensure staff are well-trained on the correct biosecurity requirements.
Both trips are informing ongoing operational planning and work to build sector resilience here, ahead of a possible incursion.
New HPAI resources for poultry owners
We’ve recently created two resources to help poultry owners identify the signs of HPAI. Click on the links to download these resources from our website.
Increasing reports of suspected HPAI
MPI is continuing to see an increase in calls to the exotic pest and disease hotline 0800 80 99 66 as awareness of HPAI increases.
Already in 2024, there have been more than twice the number of wild bird mortality or suspected HPAI reports to the hotline as in the whole of 2022.
The increase in reporting is likely to be the result of increased vigilance amongst the public, agencies and animal health professionals — rather than an increase in the number of diseased birds.
MPI’s Animal Health Incursion Investigation team is responsible for investigating reports of suspected HPAI and other exotic diseases. If an exotic disease is suspected, incursion investigators open an investigation and collect samples from the infected bird/s.
Samples that are suspected of HPAI undergo testing at AHL’s Physical Containment Level 3 (PC3) facility.
MPI reports on all investigations and their associated test results in Surveillance magazine.
This year, AHL has tested samples from 23 different species of birds resulting from investigations, including petrels, pūkeko, yellow-eyed penguins, swans, sparrows, tui, chickens, Canadian geese, sooty shearwater and multiple species of ducks and gulls. All were negative for HPAI.
Update from the US: Further testing of retail samples confirms pasteurisation kills HPAI H5N1
On 13 August, the US Food and Drug Administration released the results of the second retail sampling survey of retail dairy products.
The second sampling survey tested 167 dairy products collected at retail locations. The samples included pasteurised fluid milk and products made from pasteurized milk, such as pasteurized cheeses, cream cheese, butter and ice cream. They also included aged raw milk cheese, a product from milk that was not pasteurised. No viable H5N1 virus was detected in the products.
Since HPAI was detected in dairy cattle earlier this year, there have been a number of investigations into how it is transmitted and the safety of milk/milk products. These investigations provide evidence of horizontal virus transmission from infected lactating cows to other animals including cows, cats and poultry. No specific adaptation of the virus to either humans or mammals was identified. Several studies are being carried out to further explore the pathogenesis and transmission routes of these viruses, including among cattle and from cattle to other animals.
Alongside the retail sample studies, laboratory studies continue to indicate that the virus can be present at high levels in unpasteurised milk, is stable in refrigerated milk, but is inactivated by heat treatment similar to pasteurisation.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) recently announced it will expand testing of beef from dairy cows entering the food supply as part of its response to the ongoing outbreak among dairy cattle. In May, 109 beef samples from dairy cows sent to slaughter were tested, which detected virus particles in one cow's tissue sample. The expanded testing will start mid-September and continue for the rest of the year. Even if the virus was in beef, thoroughly cooking it will destroy the virus. The USDA continues to advise that US beef and dairy products remain safe to consume.
Resources
Biosecurity New Zealand’s information and advice on HPAI
Avian influenza, food safety and human health – MPI
Avian influenza – Department of Conservation
Highly pathogenic avian influenza – Health New Zealand
High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza – Zoo and Aquarium Association (Australasia)
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