How will the New South Wales avian flu case affect homes and grocery lists?

Supermarket egg stocks are being dwindled and hundreds of thousands of chickens are set to be euthanized as bird flu spreads across Australia.

virus HPAI H7N8 strain detected at large egg farm Wednesday in the Hawkesbury region of New South Wales.

New South Wales Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty told ABC News that influenza had spread on farms, killing 8,000 birds.

First Minister Chris Minns said there was no need to panic as confirmed cases were “isolated in specific locations” and authorities were “keeping the situation under control”.

This follows an outbreak of two unrelated strains in Victoria and a third strain that is causing concern around the world.

Last month, cases of low pathogenic avian influenza were also detected in Western Australia.

Enzo Palombo, professor of microbiology at Swinburne University and an expert on food hygiene and safety, said there has “never been any evidence” that the virus had been transmitted through the food supply, but there were still measures that could be taken to minimise the risks.

Here we explain the impact of avian flu and how it may affect consumers.

What is the H7N8 strain of bird flu?

Avian influenza, commonly known as bird flu, is a contagious virus similar to seasonal influenza (influenza) in humans.

The virus is spread mainly by wild waterfowl and there are several strains with different fatality rates for animals, according to the New South Wales Health Department.

The virus can rarely be transmitted to humans through contact with infected birds.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), most strains have so far not shown evidence of efficient person-to-person transmission or community spread.

HPAI stands for highly pathogenic avian influenza, which is highly deadly to chickens and has been linked to eight poultry outbreaks in Australia that have since been successfully eradicated.

In New South Wales, the pest has been eradicated three times, most recently in 2013 in the regional town of Young in the Hilltops region.

H7N8 is different from other highly pathogenic avian influenza strains and the H5N1 strain of global concern. Recently detected in a toddler in Melbourneincluding H7N3 and H7N9, which have caused outbreaks in Victoria.

The virus strain which led to the quarantine of farms in the Greater Sydney Basin is understood to be a “separate spillover event”, probably from wild birds.

“If you haven't already, get a flu shot every year. The less human flu in your community, the less likely we are to have a situation where a human virus and an avian virus merge to become another virus.”

Could it have something to do with the current egg shortage?

More broadly, Prof Palombo said empty supermarket shelves were a response to affected supply farms and as consumers braced for anticipated wider egg shortages.

“[This can] “It will help the public get used to having to look for alternative sources of supply,” he said.

The Victorian outbreak is already affecting poultry supplies, This led to warnings of potential shortages This could affect egg supplies across the country.

According to the egg industry, there are more than 21 million chickens kept nationwide and more than 600,000 will be culled in Victoria to prevent the spread of avian flu.

In the Hawkesbury farm case, Australian Eggs managing director Rowan McMonnies said the farm's birds would be euthanized.

“More than 100,000 birds are involved” and it will be a “huge blow” to the farms involved and the whole industry, he said.

Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland together produce more than 350 million dozen eggs each year.

Mr Moriarty said NSW consumers should not be concerned about egg or poultry products in supermarkets as “these detections do not pose a risk to consumer health and the products are safe to consume”.

Farmers Federation New South Wales president Xavier Martin said earlier this month that less than 2 per cent of Australia's chicken population was affected.

He said, The purchase restrictions were linked to supermarket procurement policies. More than farmers.

“There's no need to worry, bird flu is not new – it's been around in NSW for about 10 years now.”

Australian Eggs' peak body assured consumers there were “still hundreds of egg farms across the country” to support demand as affected farms recover.

“These avian flu cases will cause some disruptions to egg supplies as retailers reorganize their supplies,” McMonnies said.

Should we be worried about meals and co-ops?

Prof Palombo said the risk of infection through eggs and chicken was “very low, so it's probably not something to worry about”.

Routine precautions in food hygiene, handling, preparation and storage make the risk negligible, he said.