Australia reported its first human case of avian influenza on Wednesday in a child who authorities said had been infected in India but made a full recovery, while a different highly contagious strain was found on an egg farm.
The H5N1 strain of avian flu has swept the globe in recent years, killing billions of farmed and wild birds and spreading to tens of mammal species.
Avian Flu spreads to cows, raising concerns about cross-species transmission
Chicken producer Inghams Group ING.AX plunged as much as 16 per cent but pared losses to 5.5 per cent by 0701 GMT after it said operations had not been affected.
The Australian Chicken Meat Federation (ACMF) said companies had stepped up biosafety measures as a precaution but added, “No discernible impact is expected on chicken meat supplies at the retail level.”
In 2020, Victoria was the site of an H7N7 outbreak, the most recent of Australia’s nine outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) since 1976. All were quickly reined in and stamped out, the government says.
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