The outbreak comes just a few days after the Federal Government last Thursday announced Australia was officially bird flu-free after there had been no detections of H7 avian influenza since July.
The Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness conducted testing at Geelong confirming the highly pathogenic H7N8 strain, which is different to the strain that hit Victorian poultry farms last year.
The property has been placed in quarantine and arrangements made to ensure the disease does not spread from the Strathbogie Shire, the department said.
Agriculture Victoria said staff were on the ground to assist control, support the business and investigate further.
A quarantine zone covering about 5km around the affected property and a control area in the eastern Strathbogie Shire have been set up to help stop the virus from spreading.
Victorian Acting Chief Veterinarian Cameron Bell said bird flu was commonly spread by wild birds, and praised the poultry business for alerting Agriculture Victoria as soon as it suspected the presence of disease in its flock.
“Unfortunately, despite the business having excellent biosecurity controls in place, poultry have been infected,” Dr Bell said.
“The business has acted quickly to identify the infection within the flock and are working closely with Agriculture Victoria officers to contain the outbreak.”
AgVic warned people should contact a 24-hour hotline, on 1800 675 888, or their local vet if they have any suspicions about possible bird flu cases.
“Consumers should not be concerned about eggs and poultry products from the supermarkets, they do not pose a risk and are safe to consume,” the department said.
Cases among humans in direct contact with animals infected with avian influenza viruses are possible, the department noted. But it said the risk to the public remains low.
Last year more than 1.8 million birds were killed in a quest to rid the nation of the disease after Victoria, NSW and the ACT experienced outbreaks.
Between late May and late June, eight properties tested positive for H7N3 and H7N9 avian influenza in south-west Victoria, the country’s largest outbreak on record.
The new outbreak will be a setback for the industry, after cautious relief last week from egg farmers nationally that they can start to rebuild a devastated industry after it was announced the H7 strain had been eradicated.
Egg production was expected to return to normal levels in spring, depending on further outbreaks.
With supermarket-supplying farms now free of the disease, they can start growing birds again, VFF Egg Group president Meg Parkinson said.
“The challenge is getting everything up and running,” she said.
“They grow on and then it takes the birds about six months to start laying.”
Egg prices aren’t expected to drop either, with the industry expected to pay 20 per cent of the clean up, forcing farmers to pass on costs to consumers.
Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins labelled the H7 eradication as something every Australian should be proud of.
“It demonstrates that governments and industry are really switched on to the risks and will act quickly to respond to emergency animal disease outbreaks,” she said.
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