Experts cagey over free-range chickens as bird flu cases grow

Free-range poultry farmers may need to keep their birds indoors due to the risk of the deadly H5N1 bird flu, as another seabird became Australia’s seventh case of the highly transmissible virus.

The most likely infection pathway for poultry farms is wild birds flying in to mingle with free-range birds. Cage and barn-laid farms are considered lower risk for transmission.

An outbreak could have a significant impact on egg production, given free-range eggs comprise about 60 per cent of Australia’s market, and cage and barn-laid eggs about 20 per cent each.

There is no sign the virus has spread to farmed birds or to Australia’s wild populations. H5N1 is not considered a significant risk to human health.

However, state and territory chief veterinary officers have issued a joint statement “advising commercial poultry producers to house free-range birds”, to reduce the risk of their flocks interacting with wild birds.

The federal government announced on Monday that a seventh infected seabird, a giant petrel, had been found in northern Perth.

This followed the detection of an infected seabird on NSW’s Mid North Coast, which marked a significant development in the spread of the virus that previously had only been found in Western Australia and South Australia.

The spread of H5N1 in the US had severe consequences on its poultry industry. More than 170 million birds have been culled since 2022 and egg prices tripled by 2025.

H5N1 also had a significant, although less severe, impact in the United Kingdom, where around 5 million chickens were culled and egg prices spiked by about 50 per cent.

A spokesman for industry peak body Australian Eggs was unavailable to comment on how the industry would respond to an outbreak of H5N1. The organisation said in a statement last week that it had protocols in place and that production had not been affected.

NSW Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said the government would amend rules governing poultry production to enable producers to bring birds into indoor facilities and maintain their free-range labelling for a temporary period.

“It is a concern – there is no question about that,” she told ABC radio on Monday.

“It is a threat to the poultry industry. They are working very closely with government … and they are as ready as they can possibly be.”

Moriarty said she would not cancel her imminent leave from the portfolio, but emphasised there was no evidence the virus had spread and said she was committed to return if needed.

“If it does escalate, I will be here,” she said. She again called on customers not to panic-buy eggs. Woolworths and Coles were contacted for comment.

Major supermarkets started rationing egg supplies in the spring of 2024. Coles and Woolworths enforced a limit of two cartons per shopper in the wake of the destruction of 2 million chickens, following an outbreak of the less severe H7 bird flu variant, which contaminated 16 farms across Victoria, NSW and the ACT.

The virus has killed hundreds of millions of birds around the world, and it is believed an outbreak of H5N1 in Australia could spark an environmental disaster that risks extinction of dozens of species, including marine mammals that also suffer from infection.

It is believed the infected seabirds arriving in Australia contracted the virus in the Southern Ocean after it spread rapidly around the bottom end of the world, starting from South America.

Experts think an outbreak in both wild and farmed birds is almost inevitable.

Invasive Species Council chief executive Jack Gough said if that were to occur, the government would need to dedicate significant resources to limit damage to wildlife.

“We are confident that the government has the right measures in place to deal with the biosecurity response to the virus in agriculture. But we don’t want to see the biosecurity response in agriculture overwhelm the capacity to respond to any of the other aspects of this disease,” he said.

Members of the public are encouraged to look for signs of bird flu in wild and domestic animals such as sudden death or difficulty breathing, standing, walking or flying.

However, people should avoid contact with sick birds, and take photos or video and mark their location before reporting it the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.

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