Is New Zealand prepared for an outbreak of avian flu?

Monday, 21 August 2023

Tara iti (fairy terns) are critically endangered and would be at more risk if avian flu made it to New Zealand.

Some of New Zealand’s most endangered species are facing devastation as the latest strain of bird flu nears our shores, with one expert warning authorities need to do more to stop it.

Hundreds of millions of birds have died around the world in the outbreak, which is decimating poultry and wild bird populations alike.

New Zealand is one of only a handful of countries yet to have reported cases of avian influenza (HPAI).

“For species that are sort of trembling on the edge like the tara iti (fairy terns) and the tūturuatu (shore plovers) … it could very well be the straw that breaks the back and sends them to extinction,” Massey University professor Brett Gartrell said.

The shore plover is one of New Zealand’s most threatened bird species, and the arrival of avian influenza could be its death knell. (File photo)

There’s thought to be fewer than 40 tara iti left, and about 200 tūturuatu.

“We have many species that have been kept from extinction by really hard conservation management - a lot of them have survived on our offshore islands and in coastal reserves, which have kept introduced predators out, but this virus would be a lot harder to keep out,” Gartrell said.

“I'm really worried about it getting here, and I'd like to see MPI (Ministry for Primary Industries) doing more.”

The disease could be brought into the country by smuggled wildlife, or could arrive with sea or migratory shorebirds, such as godwits or albatross, he said.

Wildbase Research Centre director and avian and wildlife veterinarian Brett Gartrell says more needs to be done to prepare New Zealand for the arrival of highly pathogenic strain of avian influenza. (File photo)

Industrial poultry farming methods had influenced the disease’s spread, Gartrell said.

“I suspect [MPI’s] main goal is to protect the poultry industry but … we can't just use the old models and expect everything to be OK … we've got to be more active.”

Most wildlife centres, hospitals and zoos were working on their own response plans, but had yet to see details from MPI, Gartrell said.

“The things we desperately need is increased surveillance … and for those of us working with wildlife, we need access to rapid testing.”

Enormous effort has gone into the protection of some native bird species, by means such as translocating fairy tern eggs at Mangawhai, but avian influeza could destroy all that, Gartrell says. (File photo)

A network of people, such as amateur birdwatchers, were ready to collect samples and monitor wild bird populations.

“All we need is for the MPI lab to start accepting samples and screening for it.”

The World Health Organisation says the virus emerged in 1998, but new variants since 2020 had led to an unprecedented number of deaths - everywhere except Oceania.

It reports some 131 million domestic poultry have been killed by the virus or culled. Difficulties measuring the impact on wild bird populations means there’s no accurate toll, but one paper published earlier this year estimated deaths to be in the millions.

There are also increasing reports of deadly mammal outbreaks (including cats, dogs, seals, mink and dolphins), fuelling concerns the virus could adapt to more easily infect humans.

Efforts to move threatened species to predator free sanctuaries or offshore islands could be undone if avian influenza strikes. (File photo)

Requirements to keep farmed poultry indoors

Department of Conservation (DOC) science adviser Kate McInnes said the risk of HPAI reaching New Zealand was low, but if it did arrive it would be through illegal importation or migratory birds.

It was not clear “exactly what impact” HPAI would have on native species, but based on overseas evidence it was likely to affect colony nesting birds such as red and black-billed gulls, gannets and terns.

DOC updated its plan to mitigate HPAI risks to threatened species last year, she said, alongside its 2022 advisory for wildlife managers and bird-banders, which would be reissued ”in coming weeks“.

MPI’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Mary van Andel, said the ministry was “carefully monitoring” how the risk of HPAI arriving in New Zealand was changing as the disease spread.

Biosecurity New Zealand had monitoring and surveillance in place, she said, such as testing of samples from non-migratory waterfowl (like ducks that live alongside migratory birds) .

In recent days, MPI announced plans for a symposium in early September focused on surveillance and awareness among wildlife care providers, bird rehabilitators, DOC, and commercial testing laboratories, and would “refresh” information on its website.

Van Andel said MPI was in close contact with the Ministry of Health over the risk of human HPAI infection.

However, information on HPAI on Te Whatu Ora’s website says it was last reviewed in 2012, while the Civil Defence and Emergency Management pandemic action plan - which specifies the risk of avian influenza and human influenza mixing, resulting in a pandemic - appears not to have been updated since 2006.