Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Jemma Geoghegan: Otago University evolutionary virologist on the first case of H5N1 bird flu reaching New Zealand

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Jemma Geoghegan: Otago University evolutionary virologist on the first case of H5N1 bird flu reaching New Zealand · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: So bird flu's landed in New Zealand, one sick bird
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: on a beach in Potoni. The H five strain is
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: the one that we're talking about. Officials saying, yeah, there
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: is a risk to poultry and beyond, but not yet.
• 0:11
  Speaker 2: It is not a human health issue. Also, a food
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: safety is as long as you're cooking your chicken, meat
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: and eggs as you're supposed to do. You know, I
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: feel that we are very well prepared for this disease
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: arriving here. We are effectively one of the last places
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: in the world to get it.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: Jim McGegan, University of Otago, Professor evolutionary virologists with us
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: this morning. Jentlemen, good morning, good morning. Now tell me
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: I don't want people to freak out about stuff. And
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: I'm seeing a headline from a news article right now
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: that says newly arrived bird flu could wipe out New
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: Zealand's endangered species expert warms. Is that overblowing it?
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: You know, this is a hugely significant event that we
• 0:53
  Speaker 3: have no detected each five and one bird flu in
• 0:56
  Speaker 3: New Zealand. It's not surprising that it is here now,
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: given that it's spread around the world and the recent
• 1:03
  Speaker 3: weeks of being detected in Australia. It is, you know,
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: a very severe infection when it comes to wildlife and poultry,
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: and there are some species in New Zealand of birds
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: that are already on the brink of extinction. So I
• 1:19
  Speaker 3: wouldn't say it's overblowing it saying that, you know, these
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: these birds are already threatened and a virus like this
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: could be catastrophic for them.
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: Okay, we're vaccinating them though, aren't we the breeding ones?
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: Apparently that's yeah. So the Department of Conservation has carried
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: out some vaccine trials over the last two years, seeing
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: how effective they are on a number of key species
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: that are native endemic here that are you know, very
• 1:50
  Speaker 3: well managed, and so over the past few weeks since
• 1:53
  Speaker 3: the arrival of this virus in Australia, they have expanded
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: that program and so have vaccinated key species that are
• 2:03
  Speaker 3: already highly managed. So it's quite relatively feasible for them
• 2:09
  Speaker 3: to do that with with animals they can catch. Now,
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: there are many different wildlife species that's really hard to vaccinate,
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: as you can imagine, So.
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: While they're can get them, all can't get them. Are
• 2:22
  Speaker 1: with poultry is a big business two point two billion dollars.
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: In Australia, they have had fins of single birds kind
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: of like the one we had in Battoni, but it
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: hasn't led to mass mortalities over there. What are you
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: looking for? What's the next thing you look at and go, oh,
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: it's escalating.
• 2:38
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, we've now seen some in Australia. We've
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: seen sort of birds wash up on beaches and that's
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: kind of what the pattern we're seeing here now. Once
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: it starts spreading in New Zealand on the mainland between
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: birds here, that's when it's escalating, and that's when there's
• 2:58
  Speaker 3: a risk that potentially virus could get into poultry sheds
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: and farming. So that's the sort of point where you'd
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: be a bit more concerned about.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: This the next step. Jim, I appreciate the update. Thank
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: you very much for being with me this morning. Jim mcgigan,
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: University of Otager Professor, evolutionary virologist. For more from early
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: edition with Ryan Bridge, Listen live to news Talks it'd
• 3:21
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