'Tumultuous' is the first word Phil Szepe has to describe how the last four-and-a-half months have been for Kinross Farm.

The four Euroa egg-producing farms owned by the company made headlines across the nation and world in February when an outbreak of the new H7N8 avian influenza virus spread quickly between the properties over three weeks, forcing the destruction of almost half a million chickens and the imposition of a quarantine zone in the region.

“It certainly has been tumultuous, but we have pulled through thanks to an amazing team effort from all involved,” Mr Szepe said.

“It’s a real credit to everyone; our guys, AgVic, and the Euroa community are incredibly supportive with all our endeavours and in particular this event."

The company was forced to destroy over a quarter of its bird population due to the event but was still able to operate successfully with production at its other seven sites.

“It was a very emotional time for every one of our staff involved, because you have to remember that these guys go daily into the shed to care for the birds and see their needs.”

Because the virus is spread by wild waterfowl - mainly ducks - and Kinross’s local product is free range, Mr Szepe said the disease’s arrival was an ‘awful eventuality’ despite Kinross Farms taking every reasonable precaution in its day-to-day operation.

“We have barn systems elsewhere, where there is the same infrastructure as free range but they are inside of a shed where the birds can perch, and rest and run around and scratch and it’s the best defence against this virus.

“A closed system confers a far stronger biosecurity status; it’s not a hundred per cent but it certainly reduces the risk profile.

“Once birds are free ranging, however, they are exposed, and your biosecurity is compromised.

“So, at the outbreak, our plan first and foremost was the priority of containing the flu to that area.”

Bird flu can travel worldwide due to waterfowl migration and has resulted in the destruction of millions of chickens on every continent.

The Antarctic has also not escaped the disease, with scientists reporting the death of 18,000 breeding penguins in 2017.

However, in the face of the Euroa outbreak's severity, there are many positives to be drawn, not least satisfaction in knowing nothing more could be done due to the preparation Kinross has put into contingency plans which have been updated and refined over the last two decades.

“With hindsight, we know that we take all reasonable precautions,” Mr Szepe said.

“Any visitor to any site needs a full sanitising shower, their personal effects go through a UV sanitising cabinet, and the wheels of any vehicles are washed.”

The company also uses cutting edge AI-based technology with cameras that can identify visiting ducks among the flock and then fire a high-resolution light beam which scares only ducks and not chickens.

“It’s pretty much a world first application; the cameras have a 400-metre radius.

“But they still didn’t help us."

Mr Szepe is also upbeat about the industry’s future, particularly the question over free-range products becoming a luxury of the past.

Such optimism is found in his attention to the detailed science.

“It’s not necessarily the end of free-range,” he said.

“Humans are incredibly creative and clever and right now they are developing a vaccine in France and the Netherlands.

“We vaccinate birds already for a range of other diseases and that gives them protection.

“I think in the short to medium term a vaccine will be available and proven to be effective.

“That will certainly make it a lot safer for the birds in that situation.

“The vaccine is in the trial stage, so it is a good news story and that’s because the impact of the virus is huge globally, not just here in Euroa.

“Maybe the only impact on free-range will be the cost of an additional vaccine to be borne by the free-range market, but not much.

Kinross's preparation for outbreaks involves the employment of a full time in-house vet.

Also needed were the remaining employees, who were all involved in the farms’ recovery by being assigned to other duties.

“We have modelled this situation before, so we knew what to expect,” Mr Szepe said.

“One of the first things we did was to keep everyone on board.

“People are the key part of the position we are in now because of the commitment and passion they have.

“We can’t replicate that, so we needed that, and we need it now.

“Despite losing half a million birds, we did not have to terminate even one staff member and that one hundred per cent retention was a financial commitment because we knew we were going to get through to the end.

"They are very committed and we are very proud of them."

Mr Szepe also has high praise for AgVic, and said their cooperation was ‘fantastic’.

“They dedicated the right level of resources and we worked collaboratively with them really well; that was a feature of the response we were very proud of.

“As a result, we were able to put birds back four and a half months after the first outbreak, so that’s nearly four months earlier than average.

“It’s testament to AgVic and our team working well to mitigate the outbreak.”

Despite losing the production of almost three million eggs a week for over 20 weeks, Kinross's remaining farm sites around the state were able to keep the company trading and have been helped along through increasing the company's breeding flock along with other industry partners who provided replacement birds.

Kinross hopes to be fully flourishing again by mid-September.