A surveillance project aimed at helping identify parts of NSW where wild birds and poultry are more likely to interact could result in information that will help prevent outbreaks of serious poultry diseases such as Avian Influenza (AI).

Researcher with the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Vertebrate Pest Unit, John Tracey, hopes his latest research project will help improve the long term effectiveness of the surveillance of AI in wild birds.

Mr Tracey and his team are currently collecting field samples of wild birds in various locations across the State in a bid to identify high priority areas for surveillance of AI in wild birds.

“This project will also enable us to evaluate the best types of capture and processing techniques for wild birds, and develop and trial field sampling protocols for detecting AI in wild birds,” he said.

“We specifically want to target surveillance of avian influenza in wild birds to firstly assess the risks of endemic, low pathogenic AI viruses becoming highly pathogenic through interaction with poultry, and secondly to assess the risks of wild birds introducing foreign subtypes of the disease.”

This story appears Agriculture Today.