A biosecurity zone in the Hawksbury region is being widened after bird flu was detected at another site. This time, it is a chicken meat farm. But experts say even if those products were to make their way to supermarkets, they would still be safe to eat, as long as they’re cooked.
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00:00Biosecurity officers suiting up on a Sunday morning after avian influenza was found at another farm.
00:09Those birds will have to be destroyed along with the birds on the first farm.
00:13That's 330,000 birds across the two farms.
00:17Both sites involve the H7N8 strain, which is different to the Victorian outbreak
00:23and distinct from the H5N1 strain that's spreading globally.
00:27The chicken meat farm that we tested positive yesterday was proactive testing.
00:31We hadn't seen any signs of illness in the birds yet.
00:35It happened within the restricted zone that was first set up at Freeman's Reach.
00:39That's now being extended by another two kilometres, limiting the movement of machinery and products.
00:45It can spread through a number of ways, including airborne as well as through movements of chickens,
00:53machinery and other items or products.
00:57This latest farm is just one and a half kilometres from the site that originally tested positive last week.
01:02The government says this latest detection isn't cause for alarm, rather it's proof that its surveillance program is working.
01:09The government's tracing the products that may have already left the farms,
01:13but it insists there's no need for consumers to change their behaviour.
01:17Even if it is in the supermarkets, it's safe for people to eat so long as it's cooked.
01:21We don't anticipate a change to the availability of poultry products
01:25and there's no immediate risk to the health and safety of people who consume eggs in particular.
01:31Experts believe wild birds could be responsible for the infections at both sites
01:35and they say further detections are possible.