Bird flu spreads to seventh Australian poultry farm | 17 June 2024 | Highly pathogenic avian influenza has spread to a seventh poultry farm near Melbourne, the government of Australia's Victoria state said on Monday. Six of the properties have an H7N3 flu strain and a seventh has an H7N9 strain, it said. "Restricted and control areas are in place surrounding all infected premises," Victoria's agriculture department said in a statement. The infected properties include six egg farms and a duck farm. Around 1 million chickens, roughly 5% of Australia's egg-laying flock, have been or will be killed at affected farms to contain the virus, the government said last week.