The country’s first positive case of the H5N1 strain of bird flu was confirmed on Wednesday, after a sick brown skua seabird was found on Petone Beach, Wellington.
Mainland Poultry chief executive John McKay said the company had been planning for H5N1 for years and New Zealand was one of the last countries to get the virus.
‘‘We’ve had the benefit of time to ensure that we can plan and get our farm biosecurity plans in place and biosecurity improved on all of our facilities,’’ Mr McKay said.
‘‘We feel we’re as prepared as we can be to take on this challenge.’’
Mainland Poultry, the largest supplier of eggs in New Zealand, culled about 200,000 chickens at its Hillgrove egg farm, near Moeraki, in 2024, after the H7N6 strain of the virus was found.
Mr McKay said a lot of lessons had came out of the H7N6 response, which had helped to build up its biosecurity plans.
The outer perimeter of the farm was the first layer of protection; any vehicles or equipment were sanitised before they entered.
Workers showered before going both in and out of the facility, and wore on-farm supplied and laundered clothes.
The innermost layer of protection was the shed itself, where workers went through a further boot wash and change, and switched overalls.
H5N1 was ‘‘a different beast’’ to H7N6. Once in New Zealand wildlife, it posed a much larger risk of a broader response across the country.
‘‘Naturally farmers are concerned, there’s no doubt about that. We’ve put these plans in place, we’ve known about this potential risk for a long time — we’re well prepared.’’
The H7N6 outbreak had been really tough on Mainland Poultry and its people, but Mr McKay said the business had bounced back and the virus was ultimately limited to one property.
Farmers may potentially have to learn to live with H5N1 in New Zealand, as they had around the world.
Were a farm to get a case of H5N1, it would be shut down ‘‘immediately’’.
‘‘When it gets into a flock and a farm, it is most likely that it will infect all of the birds on that farm.
‘‘As we did with Hillgrove, we would have to depopulate that farm, dispose of all of the material on the farm in a biosecure manner, and then decontaminate the farm and get it ready for repopulation again.’’
The extent of the financial blow which H5N1 could deal to New Zealand’s poultry industry is unknown at this stage.
The industry earns an estimated $2.2 billion per year domestically and brings in about $200 million in export revenue.
Ministry for Primary Industries chief veterinary officer Dr Mary van Andel said economic modelling for a widespread bird flu outbreak would be very difficult given the range of variables.
The focus was on preventing outbreaks in poultry.
‘‘This virus will not be able to be eradicated from New Zealand once it is prevalent and established in wild birds.
‘‘Based on overseas experience, the focus has been on having good biosecurity measures and plans in place — this is the best protection for the industry to manage and live with this virus going forward.’’
Compensation would only be available to farmers ‘‘when powers are exercised under the Biosecurity Act that affect operations’’, Dr van Andel said.
