Strain of bird flu detected on Mainland Poultry farm

The infected chickens may have caught the virus from wild birds. (Image: unsplash)

Mon, 02 Dec 2024

New Zealand’s first case of bird flu has been detected on a Mainland Poultry-managed farm.Although it is not the H5N1 strain circulating among wildlife around the world, Biosecurity NZ deputy director general Stuart Anderson said they were taking the find seriously.Testing late last night confirmed the highly pathogenic H7N6 subtype at one of Mainland’s Otago properties.Anderson said the testing showed it was unrelated to an H7 strain that was identified in Australia this year, and they believed the Otago case might have happened as...

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