Bird Flu Outbreaks And How They Impact Farms, Food And Us

Ten farms across Victoria, Western Australia and New South Wales have reported outbreaks, resulting in hundreds of thousands of chickens being euthanised. 

Avian influenza can be devastating for farmers and even the economy. Already limits have been placed on how many eggs we can buy at the supermarket.

The discovery comes in the wake of an outbreak in the US where tests found humans had symptoms associated with bird flu. 

The Briefing asked Professor Enzo Palombo how worried the general population should be about the outbreaks:

Enzo Palombo is a Professor of Microbiology at Swinburne University. Palombo said the risk to the general population is quite low, as bird flu can’t be transmitted between humans.

“Bird viruses can infect humans, but we are referred to as a dead end host,” Palombo said. “That means the virus doesn’t grow very well in us. So the transmission to other people is very, very unlikely.”

Can we still eat chicken and eggs in Australia?

Affected farms are quarantined and no products can leave those farms.

If, and this is a big if, there any infected eggs or poultry [that] happened again to the food chain, the virus is killed easily by cooking”

Professor Palombo said.

Palombo said there’s no risk to consumers if they cook their eggs and their poultry meat properly, “which they should do anyway.”

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