The Victorian Farmers Federation is taking action to prepare local poultry farmers for a potentially devastating avian influenza strain.
The organization has established a working group with farmers to assess the state’s preparedness for a potential outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain, which could threaten both the local industry and wildlife.
The current H7 flu strain was first detected after a number of poultry deaths at a Meredith egg farm in May.
Vice President of the Federation, Danyel Cucinotta, says they’re looking for better efficiencies and productivity in the response, following the H7 outbreak.
“There’s obviously mass amounts of learnings that are coming out of this outbreak,” she said.
“What we really hope is we don’t get a double whammy in this year.”