Approximately 1,000 samples have been received for testing at the laboratory in Wallaceville, Upper Hutt.
But while the wait continues to see if a second farm has the virus, a conservation biologist said the logistics of free-range farms mean they pose a huge risk.
University of Auckland conservation biologist Dianne Brunton said she wouldn’t be surprised if the infection was found there.
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“I mean, it’s incredibly contagious and without knowing the details of farming practice, you know, about who moves where, how eggs are collected and moved without knowing all that, you can’t say that they’re not related here to have. phase.”
Brunton said it could spread even further.
“I wouldn’t be surprised at all if it’s discovered on some other farms in the region, you know, knowing that those compounds and those compounds could be very, very small compounds because it’s so highly contagious.
“So knowing those connections will be kind of the answer to figuring out how this thing moves.”
Laying hens foraging outdoors are believed to have been infected with the H7N6 strain via a low pathogenic virus from wild waterfowl on an Otago farm.
But Brunton said wild birds can carry the low pathogenic form, but free-range poultry farms with large numbers of birds can act as an incubator.
“Free range is great because it ensures the birds’ well-being, but you’re still concentrating tens of thousands of birds in a rather unnatural way,” says Brunton.
“And those birds all have quite low genetic diversity. They’re all the same kind of birds, all the same breeds, so that’s a perfect incubator.”
Culling of the 80,000 birds from the Moeraki site was continued on Thursday using CO2 gas in containers.
Mainland Poultry, which operates the free-range farm that confirmed NZ’s first case of highly pathogenic bird flu, also known as bird flu. Photo / Ben Tomsett
John McKay, CEO of Mainland Poultry, said the carcasses were moved to a secure landfill, among other facilities.
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“We also throw away all the materials on site, so the manure, the leisure, the eggs, the PPE equipment that we have there,” McKay said.
“All that material is moved via secured trucks to a high-security landfill in Southland, so that work continues as well.”
MPI Director General Ray Smith appeared before the select committee on Thursday, confident MPI had the resources if bird flu became more widespread.
“What I am happy with is the way we have organized ourselves, we have been able to activate all our people and we can manage the workload as needed at the moment.
“You know, if this thing spreads to a whole bunch of farms all at once and gets infected, it’s going to create a different kind of mode.”
Smith said compensation for affected farmers was currently being considered.
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Testing will continue in the coming weeks as the incubation period for the disease can be up to 21 days.
– RNZ