Page 7 - National Poultry Newspaper

Northern Hemisphere avian flu outbreaks impact on Australia
Ingham’s recorded an increase of 5.6 percent in its core poultry sales.
Ingham’s poultry sales increase
MAJOR poultry producer Ingham’s Group Limited has recorded an increase of 5.6 percent in its core poultry sales to 237,100 tonnes in the six months to Decem- ber 2021 compared with the first half of 2021, according to the company’s inter- im results released in mid-February.
closure of Ingham’s feed mill in Western Australia.
remaining firm.
In the six months
In Australia, core poultry volumes grew by 6.5 percent against a backdrop of COV- ID–19 lockdowns and challenging market conditions.
Ingham’s said anoth- er strong wheat har- vest in Australia has resulted in some re- cent price stabilisation but ongoing strong global demand for Australian wheat, due to supply shortages and adverse Northern Hemisphere weather conditions, is expect- ed to result in pricing
Combined with re- cent increases in soymeal pricing, Ing- ham’s said it expected to see some increase in feed costs in the second half of the year.
Ingham’s feed reve- nue declined 2 percent as customers transi- tioned supply away in preparation for the
The company con- tinues to hold between 3-9 months forward purchase cover on key feed ingredients.
Growth in Austral- ian underlying earn- ings before interest, taxation, depreciation and amortisation for the six months to De- cember 2021 at $185.1 million was 0.3 per- cent below the 1H21 result.
to December, poultry inventories increased by $45.8 million due to an increase in the value of feed mate- rials on hand, which reflected higher vol- umes of grain pro- cured directly from growers during the period.
AVIAN influenza virus infection can cause sig- nificant infectious dis- ease in poultry and can also infect and cause dis- ease in a range of other species, including wild birds and humans.
in domestic and wild birds across four geographic re- gions – Europe, Asia, Af- rica, and North America.
ing infectious high patho- genicity viruses when they arrive in Australia.
als is advised.
There is a need to re-
There are two categories of AIVs – low pathogenic- ity and high pathogenicity.
• Investigating unusual and mass domestic and wild bird sickness and deaths
Wild waterfowl and, to a lesser extent, shorebirds are the main natural reser- voirs for low pathogenic- ity strains of AIV, with infection typically result- ing in only mild or no clinical signs of disease in these birds.
However, the current widespread and fre- quent detection of high pathogenicity AIVs in the Northern Hemisphere likely means an increased level of risk to Australia.
• Reporting any such events – outbreak.gov.au/ report-outbreak
While a rare occurrence, low pathogenicity strains of AIV can spill over from wild bird populations into poultry, where they can then mutate into high pathogenicity viruses leading to severe disease and high mortality.
unu-
The National Avian In- fluenza Wild Bird Sur- veillance program collects and screens samples from Australian wild birds for AIVs and the data gener- ated are used to monitor and understand avian in- fluenza in wild birds in Australia.
While clade 2.3.4.4 B has been detected in ap- parently healthy wild birds, it has also contrib- uted to a number of sub- stantial wild bird mortal- ity events.
Increased awareness and vigilance by Austral- ian poultry producers and wildlife health profession-
For further technical information, visit wildlifehealthaustralia. com.au
The high pathogenic- ity virus strains – goose Guandong HPAI H5Nx virus clade 2.3.4.4 – that are currently being de- tected in the northern hemisphere emerged around 2010 and have limited health impacts in some wild bird species, enabling the spread of the virus by these species more widely than if they became ill.
security practices by poul- try producers and wildlife professionals
Further, clade 2.3.4.4 B viruses – a subclade of the 2.3.4.4 viruses – can infect a large range of bird species.
Though previous re- search has assessed the overall risk of introduc- tion of high pathogenicity AIVs to Australia to be low, a formal risk assess- ment for the current HPAI strains circulating is yet to be undertaken.
• Continuing to moni- tor AIV strains circulat- ing in apparently healthy Australian wild birds for overseas strains through the NAIWB program
Analysis of the most re- cent outbreaks of AIV in poultry in Victoria were found to be strains closely related to those circulat- ing in Australian wild birds, and not imported avian influenza virus strains from Asia or else- where.
main vigilant by:
• Maintaining best bio-
• Reporting any
sual signs of disease or deaths in wildlife to your local Wildlife Health Australia Coordinator or the 24-hour Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on freecall 1800 675 888.
Over the life of the 18-year program, thou- sands of Australian wild bird samples have been screened, with no high pathogenicity AIVs de- tected in our wild birds.
Sequence analysis of AIVs detected in wild birds through the NAIWB program contributes to tracking Australian virus evolution and dynamics, maintaining currency of diagnostic tests, and maintaining a virus se- quence library allowing comparison of Australian and overseas strains.
Since 23 December 2021, more than 1050 new high pathogenicity AIV outbreaks were reported
To date, Australia re- mains free from the strains of viruses current- ly being detected in the Northern Hemisphere.
Studies to date have found no evidence that migratory birds are carry-
While rare, low pathogenicity strains of AIV can spill over from wild bird populations into poultry. Photo: Wang Binghua
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National Poultry Newspaper, March 2022 – Page 7