800,000 chickens have been culled or severely affected by Bird Flu, following an outbreak of the pathogen amongst the farming sector in Australia. A number of farms in Victoria have been sent into quarantine. There is a limit of two cartons of eggs for Coles customers, and backyard chicken owners are being asked to protect their flocks to stop the spread.
Is this the beginning of Covid 2.0? Citizens have their radars up.
The Covid fiasco has not yet ceased, with the newest strain dubbed ‘FLiRT’ making the rounds (although there’s nothing particularly flirtatious about the situation).
And now with Bird Flu, omelette prices are set to skyrocket.
Australians have frankly had enough of disasters. In recent years we have had the bushfire crisis of ACT, a novel pandemic that shut down the globe, terrorist stabbings occurring in multiple regions, and now the ‘flamingo virus’ targeting eggs, dairy, and meat – the three staple products of a typical Aussie diet.
Australians should act quickly to sort fact from fiction, determine the genuine degree of threat surrounding these new strains of H7N3 and H7N9, and ensure another pandemic is not set to break out. Bird Flu in humans is rarely recorded in Australia. A case was recorded in the April period, but since then there have been no cases of H7N9 detected in Australia.
This virus, unlike Covid, may be worse in economic severity if not adequately managed, as it could directly threaten Australia’s key industries and food supply chain. Australia is predominantly an agricultural region, with a large portion of its gross domestic revenue being calculated from industries such as meat, eggs, and dairy. Chicken farmers are doing it tough already, particularly in drought-stricken regions. Some are being told to cull entire flocks of animals, which will put enormous pressure on them as they attempt to keep their industries afloat. Person-to-person cases of Bird Flu have not yet been reported since April, although as the virus rapidly increases amongst livestock, new strains can be developed and these may facilitate human-to-human transmission.
Chicken prices are set to skyrocket, as demand increases for farmers who have supplies well contained from the virus. For other farmers however, their entire life’s work is now set to plummet. The issue with chicken culling is that it will concomitantly affect other industries in agriculture. Many chicken farmers also breed cattle, or do cropping, and develop other products including animal feed. A burden on their chicken supplies could send many farmers broke which could affect other secondary food supply lines. Crop farmers heavily rely on chicken manure.
In short, a mass chicken cull could take an enormous toll on Australia’s entire resource sector, and add to the already worsening cost-of-living crisis.
As citizens demand answers to what is going on with skyrocketing food prices, an investigation into the origins of Bird Flu in Australia is likely to ensue. There have been reports from the World Health Organisation of a boy sick with Bird Flu traveling from India to Australia. It is unclear how or if this led to the eruption of the virus in bird stocks in the nation. Currently, the incident is not linked to the outbreak seen in animals. Australia has long been one of the continents to remain unaffected by this pathogen in people, although it is related to influenza A.
In 2010, there was an outbreak of low pathogenicity avian influenza (H10N7), which occurred on a farm in Australia, whereby seven abattoir workers who handled the birds reported conjunctivitis and minor respiratory issues. Two workers came down with Influenza A subtype H10. Bird Flu virus is contagious and can infect all livestock in the area, which is why if not managed appropriately and reasonably, it can take a massive toll on Australia’s farming industry, food supply, and export revenue. There is currently an outbreak of the H5N1 strain in the United States, affecting dairy cows.
In short, Bird Flu affects more than just birds. It is a pathogen to watch, and hopefully it does not blow up to pandemic proportions like its Covid counterpart. Although there is a historical shift towards suburban farming occurring in Australia, subsistence living is a luxury afforded to very few, who have the time, knowledge and money to implement it. The reality of the situation is that the farming industry is already on the decline in Australia due to economic and environmental pressures from government, and the last thing they need is to be sent into quarantine, during a burgeoning cost-of-living and health crisis.
