Authorities on alert as another bird flu case is detected in NSW
As two chicken farms in the Hawkesbury come to terms with the destruction of their entire bird population, authorities widen their search area for other cases of avian flu. Meanwhile, a young family of egg farmers are afraid to count their chickens before they die.
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00:00Matt and Monique Bonas have been raising chickens for three years.
00:09Their farm has now been declared part of the avian flu biosecurity zone.
00:13We are intimidated.
00:14We're thinking at any moment that we could test positive.
00:17We're constantly watching their behavior.
00:20The virus has been detected at two chicken farms less than two kilometers apart.
00:26Both farms and two more have been locked down.
00:29Matt and Monique's property is in the control emergency zone.
00:32A positive test could spell the end of their business.
00:35I don't know if we were able to come back from that.
00:37It would be emotionally very, very heavy for us and for the kids.
00:42It's the way we farm.
00:44It's a high risk.
00:45We have wild ducks and wild fowl that can mingle quite easily.
00:50We do think that this has been as a result of wild birds and they do carry variants of
00:56avian influenza.
00:58Matt Bonas says they're yet to receive a call from authorities.
01:02It's a wonder they haven't come and done a test because we're waiting just to see signs
01:05of birds and once we see that, a sign of it, that's probably already too late.
01:09Work to euthanize 330,000 birds at the two infected farms is underway.
01:15It's quite a big piece of work, a very difficult piece of work.
01:19The strain infecting these birds is different from the one in Victoria and different again
01:24from a strain that's caused deaths in humans overseas.
01:28It's not dangerous in terms of human consumption.
01:31Obviously, poultry has to be prepared correctly, but that's the case at any time.
01:36There are no eggs or chickens in or out of the two infected farms here at the Hawkesbury.
01:42But despite the lockdown, authorities say there is minimal impact on egg supply.
01:47There is still over 20 million egg-laying chickens in the industry and they're continuing
01:52to supply eggs on a steady basis.
01:56A reassurance for consumers, but of little comfort to farmers with their livelihoods
02:01at stake.