Photo: 123RF
Since a deadly strain of the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI), or bird flu, started circulating around the world, New Zealand government officials have been preparing for its arrival.
For months now, officials have been working on a plan.
While the strain discovered on an Otago free range egg farm this week was the low pathogenic H7N6 strain - not the deadly H5N1 (HPAI) circulating the world - its plan aimed to help egg and poultry farmers, regulators and the government respond to an incursion.
Up to this point, New Zealand had never had a case of the highly pathogenic virus, but low pathogenic avian influenza was known to be present in wild birds in Aotearoa.
H5N1 (HPAI) was a wildlife-adapted strain that had infected mammals and humans including farmers in contact with infected animals.
The deadly strain had spread among poultry, dairy cattle and humans in the United States this year - with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting 57 active human cases across seven states.
Officials had warned for months it was a case of when, not if, HPAI would arrive here, as migrating wild birds were believed to pose the greatest risk to transmission.
A response plan has been developed by the Ministry for Primary Industries, Department of Conservation, Ministry of Health, Te Whatu Ora and sectors like egg and poultry groups.
DOC and MOH have also developed plans to cover wild bird populations and impact on human health.
Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard told a press conference in Wellington on Monday, farmers affected by the outbreak would be compensated for the loss of business under the Biosecurity Act.
However, Hoggard told RNZ in November, Biosecurity New Zealand and industry groups were still negotiating the operational agreement that would lay out aspects like duties and compensation for affected farmers. It was expected to be released in early 2025.
Speaking at the New Zealand Agricultural Show in Christchurch, Hoggard said then: "[The operational agreement] will set out where the government will be involved, what we'll do, what the industry will need to do - because it's going to be a moving process.
"When it first comes, government will need to be involved, helping getting things in place, but over time it will need to shift because it's going to stick in the wildlife so it's almost going to be a part of business having your biosecurity plans and processes in place.
"It's not something the government is going to hold people's hands on."
MPI has been providing updates to industry since around July, in the weeks following the discovery of the H7N3 (HPAI) strain on a farm in Victoria in May.
A small delegation from the Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand, the Egg Producers' Federation and MPI visited Victoria in late July to observe how the the Australians were responding.
The visit included meetings with Australia's chief veterinary officer and biosecurity staff of the Department of Agriculture.
"Laboratory testing facilities and meetings with Australia's epidemiology team gave valuable insights into the need to balance disease control while maintaining business continuity in affected regions as much as possible," MPI said in an update in early September.
Weeks later, the poultry group and MPI visited the United Kingdom in August, meeting their counterparts, regulators and industry groups to examine their response.
UK farmers have been battling the wildlife-adapted strain of HPAI since 2022.
The visits aimed to help New Zealand officials plan for the arrival of HPAI - which included understanding what could be done to reduce risks on farms, their complexity and cost, wildlife surveillance and the role that housing orders have played.
Six focus areas were considered. They included surveillance, movement controls and biosecurity measures and practices.
The message of recent months were clear for farmers, that rigourous biosecurity practices and early detection were key to protecting farms from further infection and limit any impacts of an outbreak on agriculture, biodiversity and trade.
MPI was also working closely with wildlife hospitals, veterinarians and rehabilitation centres on early detection.
It also worked with Fish & Game New Zealand to conduct annual summer field surveillance programmes at sites where non-migratory waterfowl congregate and with DOC on any suspected diseases in wild bird populations, including native birds.
Surveillance of wild and domestic bird populations were carried out in anticipation that HPAI might arrive here from the Ross Sea southern region - done in partnership with the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital and sampling for avian influenza.
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