Everything is bigger in Texas, even bird flu amongst cattle. But while there are concerns for Australian dairy farmers they say things are in a state of alert rather than alarm.
"It's a bit of the alert, but not alarmed," said Stuart whose family has run a dairy farm in Moe, in Victoria's La Trobe Valley, for more than a century.
"It's very clear the virus came from wild birds, so we know it was a wild bird into cattle introduction ... how exactly that happened, we're not exactly sure," he said. "They finish milking that cow, they're going to break in another cow, and they will disinfect the teats to try and prevent mastitis, but they're not disinfecting all the milking equipment every single time," he said,
"Every time that an animal influenza jumps across to humans. We worry that, that would then lead to a human transmission and then a human pandemic," Dr Farrar said. "Controlling this infection in the animal sector is absolutely crucial in order to reduce the risk of humans getting infected."Dr Frank Wong says the risk of Australia experiencing a HPAI H5N1 outbreak similar to the one in the US is low.If animals are suspected to have the virus, their test samples will be sent to CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong, Victoria.
Australian Dairy Farmers' animal health adviser, Justin Toohey, said education of farmers about the H5N1 strain was occurring. "All animals in all farms in close proximity would probably be, if not quarantined, certainly examined very carefully and tested, and we put in place certain zones to restrict the movement of livestock."
H5N1 Cattle Industry Avian Influenza
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