Bird Flu Hits New Zealand, 80,000 Chickens to Be Culled in First Sweep

So far the H7N6 virus is confined to 1 farm in the southern province of Otago, and birds are to be destroyed in the hope of preventing the spread.

A Rhode Island Red hen stands proudly with her eggs. Ton Bangkeaw/Shutterstock

New Zealand’s first confirmed case of high-pathogenic avian influenza H7N6, or bird flu, has been discovered on a farm in the southern province of Otago, and officials are scrambling to contain the outbreak as the infection spread to a second shed overnight.

All poultry exports are on hold, and a 10 kilometre buffer zone has been established around the farm as 80,000 chickens are to be destroyed.