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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/jun/19/australia-bird-flu-deadly-h5n1-first-suspected-case-wa>
"A migratory seabird found in southern Western Australia has tested positive
for avian influenza with further testing under way to confirm if it is
Australia’s first mainland case of the deadly H5N1 strain.
The brown skua, a subantarctic species, was found at Cape Le Grand national
park on Sunday and had since died, the WA government said on Friday.
A second bird, a giant petrel, was sick and being tested.
Experts in Australia have feared the virus could devastate native bird species
and potentially threaten marine mammals and other species. Australia is the
only continent to have so far escaped the devastating strain, which has killed
hundreds of millions of birds so far.
Governments have been preparing for a potential arrival of the virus since it
began spreading out of Europe in 2021.
Initial testing at a WA laboratory returned a “suspected positive result for
avian influenza”, the federal agriculture minister, Julie Collins, said.
Samples had been sent to the CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness
for confirmation, with results expected on Saturday.
Collins met state and territory agencies and industry experts on Friday, with
further briefings planned for Saturday.
“There is no evidence of any mass mortality at this time. Nor is there any
evidence of infection in poultry,” she said.
“If it is confirmed to be the H5 bird flu, this will be sobering but not
unexpected, given the spread globally.”
“We certainly expected we couldn’t remain H5-free for ever, as the only
continent currently that is free of the H5 bird flu.”
She reminded people not to touch sick or dead birds, or other animals, and to
report any sighting to the emergency animal disease hotline (1800 675 888) or
to birdflu.gov.au."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
