Farms linked to Mainland Poultry’s Hillgrove site, which tested positive for highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI H7N6) on December 1, have been confirmed as free of the virus after testing on thousands of samples at the end of the full incubation period for the disease, officials at MPI said.
There were no signs of the disease anywhere else, providing confidence HPAI had been restricted to one property, MPI’s chief veterinary officer Mary van Andel said.
"On Sunday, we took about 4300 samples from 36 flocks across five farms linked to Mainland’s Hillgrove layer property, where HPAI H7N6 was confirmed earlier this month, to coincide with the end of the full incubation period for the virus and none returned positive results.
"It is a significant number of tests and gives us confidence that this virus has been contained to just the one property and that we are on track to stamp out this disease."
Dr van Andel said the Hillgrove site remained under a strict biosecurity lockdown as it undergoes cleaning and decontamination.
"The response effort will continue into the New Year with work to clean and decontaminate the Hillgrove site taking place over a number of weeks. It needs to be done carefully to ensure all traces of the virus have been removed.
"We will work with Mainland Poultry regarding an appropriate stand-down period for the property once decontamination is complete. MPI is working closely with the affected farmer on the matter of compensation."
Dr van Andel said the clear incubation period testing would help ongoing discussions with trading partners regarding New Zealand poultry exports and highlights the benefit of responding quickly to the bird flu find alongside industry.
"I want to acknowledge Mainland Poultry for working closely with us to stamp this out.
"MPI has had more than 200 people working on this response and the quick work to depopulate the approximately 200,000 chickens at Hillgrove, was the right decision.
"In total we’ve carried out more than 5600 tests on samples and bird flu has not been found anywhere other than Hillgrove.
"We’re in close contact with relevant trade partners and to date, we’ve reached agreement with Australia to continue the export of some poultry products, including chicken meat, dried pet food, and dog rolls that meet avian influenza heat treatment requirements, worth more than $50 million.
"It’s important to note that while there are common elements across markets, solutions are agreed with each country," Dr van Andel said.
