Authorities running poultry farms in Australia usually lack experience in meeting outbreaks due to engagement in the emergency response of farms. National health committees report said the steps and exercises did not permit a realistic test to the federal and state governments resources or legal powers.

Thorough planning for resource demands over the potential magnitude and length of the reaction was lacking said agricultural agencies. The health minister of Australia said that he was satisfied with the Australia's simulation, plans and their overall result, but requires to be improved in some areas.This progress results from the steps taken since the first national exercise, Minotaur, in 2002.

Preparedness in various countries and states

Improvements are incorporated into our response arrangements and now Australia's poultry farmers are better trained and prepared to manage bird flu outbreak, he said. Bird influenza or bird flu is a disease of viral etiology that varies from a mild or even asymptomatic infection to an acute, fatal disease of chickens, turkeys, guinea fowls, and other bird species, especially migratory waterfowl.

Fowl plague was described in 1878 as a severe disease of chickens in Italy. It was determined in 1955 that fowl plague virus is generally one of the influenza viruses. All influenza viruses affecting domestic animals belong to Type A, and Type A influenza virus is the most common sort producing serious epidemics in humans. Types B and C do not affect domestic animals.

Avian flu and other viruses leading to bird flu

The Avian flu viruses, along with the other influenza viruses, make up the virus family Orthomyxoviridae. The virus particle has an envelope type content with glycoprotein projections with hemagglutinating and neuraminidase activity. These two surface antigens, hemagglutinin and neuraminidase, are the basis of describing the serologic identity of the influenza viruses making use of the letters H and N with the appropriate numbers in the virus designation e.g., H7N2.

There are now about 15 hemagglutinin and 9 neuraminidase kinds of antigens described among the Type A influenza viruses. The designation of the virus type is based upon the antigenic character of the M protein. Type A influenza virus leads to bird influenza also known as the flu. It is a contagious disease and the major way that influenza viruses are spread is from person to person in respiratory droplets of coughs and sneezes.

The flu and the bird flu are very different from that of a cold. The symptoms can range from a mild disease with little or no mortality to a highly fatal, swiftly spreading epidemic depending on the infecting virus strain, host factors, and environmental stressors