News

The Barwon South West Public Health Unit (BSWPHU) recently supported Agriculture Victoria, the Department of Health and poultry workers after the recent detection of avian influenza at a number of poultry farms in the Barwon South West region.

Agriculture Victoria lead the response and these properties were been placed in quarantine and all poultry was safely disposed of, and the sites were cleaned and cleared of the infection.

The BSWPHU supported all affected poultry workers with monitoring and advice on preventing infection. While cases among humans in direct contact with animals infected with HPAI viruses are possible, the risk to these workers and the public remained low.

The team asissted with:

• Effective identification/management of contacts
• Active surveillance and provision of post-exposure prophylaxis where appropriate.
• Recommendations to receive the influenza vaccination,
• Testing of symptomatic contacts to reduce the risk of further transmission.
• Risk communication and engagement to reassure stakeholders that the risk to public health is low.
• Strengthening infection prevention and control (IPC) measures at infected properties.

Now that the outbreak has been contained the team are now working to support the coordinatoion of learning and the development of future processes and procedures.