Fiona MacMillan: Poultry Association head on the organisation's plan to handle NZ's first case of bird flu

The Poultry Association's worried but prepared, as New Zealand's first case of bird flu arrives.

The virus was detected in a dead seabird on Wellington's Petone Beach today, but officials say there's no evidence of widespread transmission.

Association boss Fiona MacMillan says the industry's confident in its plans, and there's no cause for panic. 

"What it can do is devastating, but we've been preparing for this for quite some time. So in a sense - this detection doesn't change anything." 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right, good afternoon. As we told you at the start
of the program, the first case of bird flu has
been detected in New Zealand and infected seabird has been
found on po Tony Beach in Wellington. Poultry Industry Association
Executive Director Fiona mcmillaner is with us now our high Fiona, Hey,
ether a scale of one to ten, How worried are you.

Speaker 2 (00:18):
Me personally? Trying to avoid being worried? I'm being watchful.
I'm a scale of one to ten.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Five, Okay, why only five? Given what this can do?
Why only five?

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yeah, you're right, what it can do is devastating, but
only five Because we've been preparing for this for quite
some time. So in a sense this detection doesn't change anything.
We've done the work on biosecurity. We're going to keep
doing the work on biosecurity, so that process just has
to continue, right.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
And also it's worth us not panicking, right because it
is one bird and it doesn't necessarily mean the bird
has got anywhere near any chickens.

Speaker 2 (00:54):
You're exactly right. And it's a pelagic bird, you know,
the type of bird that mostly lives its life at sea,
so it's kind of a visitor to our shores. Now, obviously,
MPI and DOC will be keeping a close eye on
the situation. And I think this is where the public
can be really helpful because these sorts of detections will
likely come from members of the public who are watchful

(01:15):
and aware of what to look for. So if they're
out there and they see sick birds or groups of
dead birds, you know, follow mpi's advice. You're doing everyone
a favor by reporting that sort of thing, because you know,
by taking on that role, everyone can help us keep
it out of poultry.

Speaker 1 (01:34):
Yeah, last time I saw you, we actually got talking
about this and you told me the industry has actually
been prepared for quite a bit, right, So there is
So when it does potentially arrive in the country, do
you expect it's not going to have as much of
an impact here as people may fear.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
Oh, I think I'd be very brave or very foolish
to say that. I've been comparing it to preparing for
a school exam. You can do all the work, you
can study really hard, but you still don't know what's
going to happen when exam season hurts. Well, it's exam
season now, in a way, isn't it, Because we've had
our first detection, so we really do have to ramp
up our readiness, check for gaps, think about what we

(02:13):
can do better and make sure we're all on stand by.
But I am really proud of the work I've seen
the industry do so far, so I think, you know,
a lot of good thought has gone into this. We
have businesses in New Zealand that have looked over seas
and seen what's happened in the UK and they've learnt
from that, so that's the good news. Of course, you
can never perfectly predict things like this, right, so we

(02:36):
just need to stay alert and be ready to respond
when the next stage is reached.

Speaker 1 (02:40):
Okay, fionda Hey, thanks very much, appreciate a best of
luck with dealing with us as Fiona McMillan, Poultry Industry
Association Executive Director. For more from Heather Duplessy Allen Drive,
listen live to news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays,
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