HUNTER and Central Coast farmers are moving quickly to guard against and prepare for what experts say is the inevitable spread of avian influenza to poultry, dairy and cattle, as well as native birds and wildlife.
Many will gather at Mangrove Mountain on Friday night (June 26) to hear from David Inall, chief executive of the Australian Chicken Growers Council who was due to arrive in Sydney from Melbourne on Thursday (June 25).
Egg farmers are among those with the most to lose, particularly those producing free-range or pasture-raised chickens and eggs because of their potential exposure to migratory bird species, says long-time farmer Lorraine Wilson.
Mrs Wilson, a well-known and active member of the NSW Poultry Growers Cooperative based in Kulnura on the Central Coast, said the situation felt similar to the 1999 outbreak of Newcastle disease that devastated the community's poultry industry.
Poultry farmers and many others have been on high alert since the first case of avian influenza A H5N1 was detected in several migratory birds arriving on Australian shores earlier this week in Western Australia.
So far, no live cases have been detected in domestic species, but experts say it is only a matter of time.
It might be just a few months, says conservation biologist, mathematician, and applied ecologist, Professor Hugh Possingham, of the Biodiversity Council Australia and BirdLife Australia.
"Birds are going to need all the help they can get," Professor Possingham said.
He made the comments at a media briefing on Thursday when he participated in an expert panel along with Dr Jane Younger, from the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, and Professor Raina MacIntyre, head of the Biosecurity Program at the Kirby Institute at the University of NSW.
Professor McIntyre agreed with him, saying poultry farms were at risk.
"Especially free range and back yard farms, they are at great risk and that's what we've seen in other countries," Professor MacIntyre said.
"There is a particular cycle between wild birds and poultry ... the wild birds will bring it in. We are doing some modelling to try and predict where it will land first and when."
Mrs Wilson said farmers were getting daily updates from the Australian Chicken Meat Federation, and that was coming direct from the federal government.
"I think they have done a really decent job of getting information out and into the media and being open about it," Mrs Wilson said.
In the past, the chicken industry had been very secretive about the way it operated, and most farmers remained under contracts, which involved non-disclosure agreements that forbid them from talking to the media, she said.
"They've got too much to lose, chicken sheds these days are costing over $2 million a shed, so they can't afford to lose contracts and have stranded assets on their properties."
Authorities had so far been very quick in getting birds tested and informing the general public, letting them know that this wasn't just a chicken problem, Mrs Wilson said.
"It's a wild bird problem," she said. "And for anyone who has a budgerigar, or chickens in their back yard.
"In America and in the Antarctic it has crossed species and has been known to cross to humans - not very often, so we have to hope that that stays that way in Australia, and we also have to hope that it doesn't affect the chicken meat industry or the poultry egg industry in the way the Newcastle disease did."
This time, farmers were "very, very busy" putting measures in place, even without being told to do so, and were very aware of the protocols and were ramping up their biosecurity, not allowing visitors on the farm, and washing down vehicles as they come and go from farms.
Experts say that while the risk to people remains low, the highly infectious avian influenza A strain is deadly for birds and has led to near extinction levels of mortality for seals.
Dr Younger said tens of thousands of seals had died with bird flu in Georgia.
"Animals can be infected and the virus is being carried large distances," Dr Younger said.
"Southern elephant seals have had their conservation status change as of April. They are now listed as vulnerable."
Professor Possingham said that surveillance was key, and anyone who saw birds or wildlife suspected of being infected needed to report that to authorities.
"Take pictures, record it, and report it to authorities," he said.
Telltale signs in birds included seeming uncoordinated, unusually tame, or having swelling or discolouration around the eyes, he said.
Rowan McMonnies, managing director of Australian Eggs, said the early detection of H5 avian influenza in Australia in wild migratory shorebirds was a good indication that the biosecurity systems in place to protect Australia's agriculture were working.
"The most important step at this time is the expanded surveillance that was immediately put in place by authorities," Mr McMonnies said.
"We do not yet know if this detection is isolated to migratory birds arriving in Australia, or if it has been transferred to domestic species.
"This picture will start to build in the coming weeks and will determine the extent of the threat to Australian wildlife and poultry industries.
"At this early stage, egg production remains unaffected and Australians continue to consume over 20 million each day."
