Via The Age: Bird flu detected in Victoria. Excerpt:
Bird flu has been detected at two locations northwest of Melbourne.
The Department of Primary Industries has quarantined two commercial duck farms operated by the same owner, after birds at both properties tested positive to low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI).
DPI Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Andrew Cameron, on Friday said analytical tests carried out at the Australian Animal Health Laboratory at Geelong, Victoria, had given a positive response to low pathogenic H5 subtype avian influenza virus, prompting authorities to act immediately.
The cases were detected during routine testing for other conditions.
"Avian influenza, also referred to as AI or bird flu, is a contagious disease that affects birds. The transmission of the AI virus from birds to humans is a rare event," Dr Cameron said in a statement.
This low pathogenic subtype of avian influenza is not the highly pathogenic H5N1 virus affecting poultry and humans throughout much of Asia, and the wider community is not at risk, he said.
Low-path flu can be a disaster for the poultry industry, as we learned here in British Columbia when H7N3 broke out in 2004.
