WELLINGTON, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government has launched a 1.5-million-NZ-dollar (about 880,000 U.S. dollars) grant to help poultry operators prepare for the possible arrival of H5 high pathogenicity avian influenza, a senior official said on Tuesday.
The government is supporting small- and medium-sized poultry producers to strengthen their preparedness for H5 bird flu, "helping protect jobs, livelihoods and New Zealand's domestic food supply," Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard said in a statement.
The poultry biosecurity grant will reimburse producers for up to 50 percent of costs, to a maximum of 25,000 NZ dollars, to support measures including infrastructure, access controls, bird-proofing and cleaning and disinfection facilities, the statement said.
The grant is available to poultry operators with fewer than 100,000 birds and aims to help them prepare for new biosecurity regulations announced by the government in July, which will come into force by the end of 2026, it said.
New Zealand has recorded two confirmed detections of H5 bird flu. There is no evidence of mass mortality in wildlife and no detections in poultry, according to the government. ■
