Issue 12, 13 October 2025
New industry-MPI liaison role established
A new role has been created to tighten industry-MPI relationships and ensure varying perspectives are considered as we prepare for a potential HPAI H5N1 case in New Zealand.
Joanne Thomas has been seconded from MPI into PIANZ/EPF to support the joint HPAI readiness and response efforts between government and industry.
Joanne has a deep understanding of the poultry industry as a qualified veterinarian, and through her support of her family’s own small business, understands the pressure and challenges family-run businesses face.
“My background helps me apply an industry lens to technical and policy discussions to ensure there are practical and realistic outcomes for the industry.”
With many HPAI-related projects well underway between MPI, PIANZ and EPF, Joanne’s role is to help coordinate all the pieces of the puzzle into a full picture. She describes her role as that of an “advisor, coordinator, mediator, translator and communicator”, and it’s one she’s done before.
Joanne was similarly seconded to help align government and industry perspectives with the response to Salmonella Enteriditis a few years ago. Therefore, she says this role has familiarity about it.
Joanne Thomas - bridging MPI and industry in HPAI readiness
Coming soon: HPAI Response Plan Template and Guidance material
An example of the type of projects Joanne has been coordinating between MPI and industry is the new HPAI Response Plan template and guidance material. This will be available soon to help chicken meat and egg producers prepare for exotic disease threats, including HPAI.
“These resources will outline what’s needed to develop a site-specific response plan. This plan will help you act decisively if an exotic disease such as HPAI is suspected or confirmed on your premises. The resources will also support compliance with the proposed regulations currently under consultation with MPI and industry.
“This new material builds on the Biosecurity Plan template that is required to best protect your business. That focuses on a plan to prevent disease from entering your production site. The new response plan is the next step, so you know what to do, quickly, if a disease is detected.”
The response plan also complements the recently shared Regional Disposal Guides which outline local options for carcass disposal such as burial, composting, and other approved disposal methods.
Joanne says details of the HPAI Response Plan and Guidance will be announced to industry shortly.
“Together, these tools form a comprehensive package to help safeguard your farm, your birds and the wider industry.”
The newly established ‘Poultry Council’
As a result of the recently signed GIA Operational Agreement between MPI, PIANZ and EPF, it was agreed to establish a governance group known as the Poultry Council.
This Council will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of a joint GIA readiness work programme focused initially on preparedness for H5N1 across industry and government.
The Council will be Chaired by Pete Thomson, MPI’s Chief Biosecurity Officer, with Egbert Segers and John McKay, representing PIANZ and EPF respectively. They will collectively provide a recognised governance group for decisions affecting the wider poultry industry.
The Operational Agreement requires that all decisions be made by consensus among the three parties, and that joint readiness activity costs be shared on the basis of 55% Crown and 45% industry.
Make the time to have your say
We know you’re busy, but EPF, PIANZ and MPI are urging farmers, growers and producers to have a say on the proposed regulations to manage HPAI H5N1 in poultry.
Last month, Minister for Biosecurity Andrew Hoggard announced proposals to create new regulations for H5N1 saying, “we need a long-term approach to managing the disease that incentivises good biosecurity practices and early reporting of infection, protects human health and the domestic food supply, and provides for consistent standards across the industry”.
Minister Hoggard acknowledged the proposals are likely to involve costs and other impacts for commercial poultry operators.
“We want to hear from industry operators about how the proposals could affect their businesses, so we can understand the impact of these costs.”
Making a submission on the proposals is easy. MPI has provided a short summary of what’s proposed, and you can use either the online form or submission template to make your submission.
Discussion document summary:
Online form:
https://forms.office.com/r/PvqztxmNSt
Submissions close at 11.59pm on 2 November.
Webinar for industry
Fines, risk levels and who pays were among the topics people asked about at a webinar for PIANZ and EPF members on the proposed regulations to manage HPAI H5N1 in poultry.
Around 70 people from industry attended an MPI webinar on the proposals, which was opened by EPF Chair John McKay, with comments from PIANZ Chair Egbert Segers.
MPI’s Fiona Duncan and Graeme Mackenzie gave a presentation on the proposed regulations and answered questions from attendees.
If you missed the industry-only webinar, MPI is hosting another webinar on Thursday 16 October at 2pm, which is open to the public. You can register here.
HPAI H5N1 overseas
Reported detections of H5N1 HPAI in both wild and domestic birds have increased over the last couple of months. Most detections have been in the Northern Hemisphere. The increase was expected and is associated with the autumn migration of waterfowl.
In Europe, multiple detections in both commercial poultry and wild birds have been reported since July. The greatest numbers have been in the United Kingdom (UK), Spain and Norway. In the UK, persistence of the virus in wild birds through the summer is thought to have contributed to the recent increase in detections. Recent detections have also been reported in Bulgaria, France, Germany, Ireland, Poland, and Portugal
In North America, multiple detections have been reported since mid-August in Canada and the US, in both commercial poultry and wild birds.
In Asia, first detections of the season have been reported since July in Taiwan and South Korea, along with ongoing detections in Cambodia, India, and the Philippines.
There have been no reports of H5 avian influenza in Hawaii since a low-level positive result from a wastewater facility on 10 February 2025. H5 HPAI was first reported in backyard and wild birds in O’ahu, in November 2024.
HPAI activity is continuing in the Southern Hemisphere, but reported detections are much fewer. South Africa has reported three outbreaks in commercial poultry since June 2025. An outbreak among wild birds in the Western Cape was reported around the same time. Botswana reported an outbreak in poultry in July, which has since been resolved.
In South America, there have been reports of recent detections in Argentina, Bolivia, and Brazil. Argentina has reported four detections in backyard poultry and one on a commercial poultry farm since July 2025. Bolivia reported a detection in a backyard flock on 30 August.
Antarctica
H5N1 was detected on mainland Antarctica during the 2023/24 austral summer and is now considered widespread on the Antarctic Peninsula. There continue to be no confirmed detections on the continent beyond the Antarctic Peninsula.
Australian researchers are carrying out an expedition to the Heard and McDonald Islands in the subantarctic. The expedition includes a team of wildlife ecologists who will conduct surveillance among wild birds for H5N1 HPAI. Samples will be sent to the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness for PCR screening to test for HPAI.
Resources
https://www.woah.org/en/disease/avian-influenza/
https://www.fao.org/animal-health/animal-diseases/highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza/en
https://scar.org/library-data/avian-flu
The Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand (PIANZ) and the Egg Producers Federation (EPF) have joined with the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to provide farmers with this update about our preparations for high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1.
