Australia is ramping up surveillance to determine if the H5 strain of bird flu has become entrenched in its wildlife after confirming two cases in migratory seabirds, the government announced on Monday.
First Two Cases Confirmed in Western Australia
Scientists confirmed over the weekend that a brown skua, a migratory sea bird, tested positive for the H5 strain in remote Western Australia. Subsequent tests on a giant petrel from the same area also verified the presence of the virus, officials said.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins stated that over the next three to seven days, experts will intensify surveillance and testing to assess whether the virus has spread further. “We want to see whether or not there has been an entrenched infection in the wildlife in Australia,” Collins told a news conference.
Australia Was Last Continent Without H5
Australia had been the only continent free of the H5 strain, which has caused mass die-offs of poultry and wild birds globally. The country’s poultry and agricultural systems remain free of H5 bird flu, and there is no evidence of mass wildlife deaths, Collins noted.
However, experience from other countries indicates that the H5 virus is difficult to eradicate from farms and can be “devastating” to wildlife, she added. “Let me reiterate, at this stage we’re talking about two birds on an isolated beach,” Collins said. “We have had those two confirmed. We are yet to establish whether or not it’s entrenched in Australian wildlife.”
Environment Minister Warns of Threat
Environment Minister Murray Watt described the virus’s arrival as disappointing but “not unexpected.” He emphasized, “We only have two confirmed cases but we don’t underplay the threat that this poses to wildlife and our agriculture sector in Australia, should this become a wider outbreak.”
Global Impact and Risks to Unique Fauna
The H5 strain has caused severe disease and high mortality in poultry and wild birds globally, also affecting mammals such as cats, goats, alpacas, pigs, and marine mammals. Wild birds most impacted include waterfowl, shorebirds, seabirds, and birds of prey.
There is concern the deadly disease could exacerbate extinction risks for Australian fauna, many of which are unique to the continent. Nearly half of Australia’s wild bird species and 83 percent of its mammals are found nowhere else on Earth.
Last week, scientists reported that the H5 strain killed over 13,000 elephant seal pups after infecting a breeding colony on the remote Heard and McDonald Islands, an Australian external territory in the sub-Antarctic.
