Two seabirds in WA test positive for H5N1 bird flu, first cases in Australia
7 reported1 unconfirmed
Two seabirds found sick on separate beaches in Western Australia have tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, marking the first time the virus has been detected in Australia. The giant petrel was confirmed positive on Monday, two days after the brown skua case was confirmed, and both birds have since died. The virus has killed millions of birds and mammals worldwide since 2021, but Australia had been the only continent it had not reached. Experts and government agencies are now on high alert, waiting to see if these cases signal the start of a wider outbreak. Australia’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Beth Cookson, said there was no sign the infections had spread to other birds. The birds’ arrival from Antarctica had been considered a possibility, though experts had expected the virus to reach Australia’s northern coastline first. Almost 60 reports of sick and dead birds in Western Australia were made to a nationwide hotline over the weekend.
What’s reported
A giant petrel tested positive for H5N1 on Monday, two days after a brown skua tested positive.
Both birds were found sick on beaches a few kilometres apart on Western Australia’s southern coastline.
Both birds have since died.
Australia was the only continent the virus had not reached until these cases.
Australia’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Beth Cookson, stated there is no sign the infections have spread to other birds.
Almost 60 reports of sick and dead birds in Western Australia were made to a nationwide hotline at the weekend.
More than 13,000 seal pups died from the disease between October last year and January, alongside penguins and petrels, Australian scientists revealed last week.
Open questions
Whether these two cases represent the beginning of a wave of infections in Australia.
Key figures
Dr Beth Cookson, Australia’s chief veterinary officer
Dr Lauren Roman, seabird researcher at the University of Tasmania’s Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies
Simon Gorta, researcher and ecologist at the University of New South Wales
Dale Wright, acting director of conservation science at BirdLife Australia
Sources: The Guardian
