Australian govt confirms first mainland case of H5N1 bird flu strain

Canberra: The Australian government has confirmed the first mainland case of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza has been detected in a migratory bird found in Western Australia (WA).

Julie Collins, minister for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, told reporters in Canberra on Saturday that testing by the Australian Center for Disease Preparedness confirmed that a brown skua found in a southern WA national park on June 14 had died from the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, Xinhua news agency reported.

It marks the first confirmed case in the Australian mainland of the highly pathogenic strain, which has spread around the world since 2020, causing the deaths of millions of birds and other animals.

A second bird, a giant petrel, was found sick nearby on Thursday and has been quarantined.

The Australian government previously committed 113 million Australian dollars (79.2 million USD) in funding to prepare for a potential outbreak of the H5N1 strain.

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“We have looked at what has happened overseas and we have learnt from that, which is why we have invested early,” Collins said on Saturday.

Speaking alongside Collins, Australia’s Chief Veterinary Officer, Beth Cookson, urged Australians to avoid contact with sick or dead birds and report them to the Emergency Animal Disease hotline.

The Threatened Species Commissioner, Fiona Fraser, said that authorities would know within days if the strain has established itself in any populations in Australia.

Australia was previously the only continent where the H5N1 bird flu strain had not been found.

The strain can spread quickly among poultry and wild bird populations. Human cases tied to the disease remain uncommon.

The H5N1 strain of bird flu was detected on the remote Australian territories of Heard and McDonald Islands in October last year – located in the southern Indian Ocean.