Chicken farmers on H5N1 bird flu high alert

The first recorded H5N1 strain of bird flu in Australia has brought home its risks to New Zealand. New Zealand is free of this highly pathogenic strain, but 80,000 hens were slaughtered at Mainland Poultry’s Hillgrove egg farm in 2024 to contain an outbreak of the H7N6 strain. PHOTO: STEPHEN JAQUIERY New Zealand’s chicken farmers are on high alert for the H5N1 strain of bird flu after two cases were confirmed in Australia.