(DailyEmailNews.com) – In an alarming turn of events, New Zealand has imposed a sweeping ban on its poultry industry exports due to a highly pathogenic bird flu outbreak.
For some, this decision threatens to cripple hardworking farmers and disrupt the food supply chain.
The ban’s consequences could be far-reaching, affecting New Zealand’s economy and global food security.
The H7N6 strain of bird flu was detected at an egg farm near Moeraki, forcing New Zealand’s biosecurity team to act immediately.
“While it is not the H5N1 type circulating among wildlife around the world that has caused concern, we are taking the find seriously,” said Biosecurity New Zealand deputy director-general Stuart Anderson.
New Zealand’s poultry industry, valued at nearly a billion dollars and with $190 million in exports, now faces an uncertain future.
The export ban is expected to last at least a few weeks but could also drag on indefinitely.
This decision puts countless jobs at risk and threatens the livelihoods of hardworking farmers already struggling with rising costs and excessive regulations.
In response to the outbreak, the government plans to cull 40,000 chickens in the affected shed starting today.
Authorities have established a 10km buffer zone with movement restrictions around the infected farm.
Concerned parties also raised the alarm as this situation could be exploited by those pushing for stricter controls on the food supply.
The government is already expressing worries about the potential arrival of H1N1 via wild birds from Antarctica, setting the stage for even more regulations and restrictions on farmers.
“For trade purposes we have to say for a number of countries that we are free of high pathogen avian influenza,” Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard said.
Critics of the government’s reaction assert that Hoggard’s words only seek to appease foreign markets at the expense of domestic producers.
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