'Large scale deaths': Expert's grim bird flu warning
Updated . First published at
A wildlife expert has warned that Australia faces a potential catastrophe if it’s confirmed that the deadly H5 bird flu is established on our shores.
Two H5 bird flu cases have been confirmed in Western Australia, involving a brown skua and a northern giant petrel, both in the Esperance region.
This brown skua, found at Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance and taken in by a carer, is Australia's first confirmed H5 strain case. 9News
Dr Carol Booth from the Invasive Species Council said Australia could be in for “a lot of heartbreak”.
“At the moment, we’re really biting our nails and waiting anxiously to find out whether bird flu has actually established in Australian wildlife,” she told Today.
“I mean, we might have got lucky and sick birds that have arrived may not have interacted with other wildlife and spread the virus.
“But it’s also likely we’re at the start of what we’ve been fearing for several years now, the start of the spread of a really deadly new disease in Australia.”
Authorities have said no cases have yet been confirmed in poultry, but chicken supplier Ingham’s has blocked all non-essential access to its WA operations and moved to higher biosecurity protocols.
So far, a number of other dead seabirds between Perth and Esperance have been reported to authorities.
Booth said Australia had faced bird flu outbreaks before, but only involving the H7 varieties of the virus, which had been expunged through mass poultry culls.
But the H5 virus, she said, was different because it affected native wildlife.
“If it’s in wildlife, we can’t eliminate it from Australia,” she said.
“Australian birds potentially face catastrophic impacts.”
Although the direct risk of transference to humans remains low, Booth advised chicken owners to practice strict biosecurity protocols.
There is not yet any sign of the disease in Australian poultry. AP
And anybody who sees a dead or sick bird or another animal is urged not to approach, but to record the encounter and report it to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.
“It’s really likely to be the biggest and most complex wildlife emergency Australia’s ever faced,” Booth said.
“We can expect large-scale deaths, and unfortunately, we’ve got lots of threatened species in Australia, and they face further endangerment.”
Yesterday, WA Premier Roger Cook said while the confirmed cases were concerning, the state was prepared for it.
“Being over-prepared here is obviously key to making sure that we can respond to any biosecurity threat,” he said.
Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt said Australia was the only continent in the world where the H5 virus was not established.
He said yesterday the government had invested $113 million in preparing for a potential outbreak.
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