Bird flu spreads to native animal for the first time

An Australian seabird has become the first native animal to have H5 bird flu, weeks after migratory birds carrying the disease landed in the country.

Agriculture Minister Julie Collins on Friday said a greater crested tern was found isolated in Robe, South Australia, near where migratory birds with H5 were found late last month.

“What we do know is that this is a coastal seabird that has an overlapping coastal range with migratory seabirds that have previously tested positive for H5,” she told reporters.

Read more

‘Safe to Eat’: Aussie farmer reassures consumers after concerns bird flu has crossed state line

There are now 12 confirmed bird flu detections in Australia, as hundreds of suspected cases are tested across the country.

Collins stressed that there is no evidence of any mass mortality as fears rise that the contagious disease that caused millions of deaths in wildlife across the world will have the same effect in Australia.

“At this time, there is still no evidence of any mass moralities due to the H5 bird flu, nor is there any evidence of spread to other animal production or population at this time,” she said.

“There is no evidence currently of any infection in our poultry or agriculture system, and there remains a low risk to human health.”

Collins said authorities are increasing surveillance in South Australia, but Invasive Species Council chief executive Jack Gough said more needs to be done to support protecting wildlife populations.

“Australia has a narrow window to reduce the damage by tackling the threats that are already pushing native species towards extinction,” he warned.

A migratory bird carrying the deadly H5 variant touched down in mainland Australia for the first time last month, the government announced on June 19.

The case was first detected in Western Australia, before more were found in South Australia and NSW.

The deadly strain of the bird flu first has spread globally since 2021.

Read more

'Large scale deaths': Expert's grim bird flu warning

Mainland Australia was formerly the only continent free from the variant, but its inevitable arrival loomed after it was detected 4000km away on the Australian territory of Heard and McDonald Islands in October.

H5 bird flu is deadly to birds and poultry, but can also infect mammals. It has led to the deaths of millions of wildlife across the world.

It can spread to humans on rare occasions.

The federal government has invested more than $113 million into bird flu preparedness.

Australians are advised not to touch any sick or dead birds and, instead, record them and the location and report it to birdflu.gov.au.