Australia cannot be complacent despite being the only continent currently without bird flu as its rapid spread remains a risk, federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins says.
The government has put aside $100 million to prepare and protect Australia against the strain, which poses a significant risk to agriculture, wildlife and the economy, she said.
“We are not wasting the head start we have been given to prepare,” she said.
Ms Collins will virtually host the nation’s agriculture ministers on Friday to discuss Australia’s preparedness.
Ministers agreed in July to war game response measures and pursue greater collaboration between agriculture, environment and health portfolios within states and territories to manage the risk from H5 bird flu.
Bird flu wasn’t a new thing and occurred every now and then but Australia had strong biosecurity protections in place, infectious diseases and outbreak response expert Md Rezanur Rahaman said.
“We have strong collaboration between government departments and following the COVID pandemic we have future preparedness in place,” he told AAP.
“We have fairly strong biosecurity measures in place and because of the geographical location of Australia, I would say the risk is minimal but it’s certainly not zero.
“I don’t personally see an immediate threat.”
The virus found in poultry can result in the need to eradicate livestock and carries the risk of being transmitted to humans.
Usually mild to asymptomatic in people, symptoms can include sore eyes and mild respiratory issues similar to a cold, or fever, cough, tiredness and muscle aches similar to a flu in more serious cases.
Bird flu was detected in Victoria, NSW and the ACT between May and July and strict quarantine and movement restrictions were introduced to curb the spread.
The ACT will remove restrictions on bird movements and other materials, objects and equipment from Friday, with the last case detected in July.
Restrictions have been eased in the other two states after months of no new cases but an emergency zone remains in the NSW Hawkesbury region and a movement control order is in place in Victoria’s Meredith and Terang locales.
A federal government taskforce is working to deliver a simulation known as Exercise Volare, to co-ordinate emergency responses and assess the impacts on unique Australian wildlife.
A Centre for Disease Control is also being set up after it was recommended by a review of Australia’s COVID response.
The review found the nation was unprepared to handle a pandemic.
