CANBERRA: Scientists have detected the highly contagious H5 strain of bird flu in an Australian seabird for the first time, raising concerns over the potential impact on the country’s unique wildlife population.
Australia’s Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said on Friday that laboratory testing confirmed the virus had infected a greater crested tern found in Robe, South Australia.
The detection marks the first known case of H5 bird flu in a seabird native to Australia. The country had remained the only continental landmass free from the H5 strain for years, despite the virus causing widespread outbreaks and high mortality rates among poultry and wild birds globally.
Officials said 12 cases of H5 bird flu have been confirmed in Australia since June, all involving migratory seabirds. However, the latest case is significant because it involves local wildlife rather than visiting migratory species.
“While this is certainly a concerning development, it is not unexpected,” Collins said at a news conference in Hobart, the capital of Tasmania.
She stressed that there was currently no evidence of mass deaths among birds due to the virus and no indication that it had spread to poultry, livestock or agricultural systems.
“The risk to human health remains low,” the minister said, adding that scientists were continuing investigations to determine how the virus reached the Australian seabird population.
Researchers believe the infected greater crested tern may have contracted the virus through contact with migratory seabirds that previously tested positive for H5. The species shares coastal habitats with some migratory birds known to carry the virus.
The South Australian government has introduced enhanced surveillance measures in the area where the infected bird was discovered to monitor any further spread.
Wildlife experts have expressed concern that the arrival of H5 bird flu could increase pressure on Australia’s already vulnerable native species. Nearly half of Australia’s wild bird species and around 83 per cent of its mammals are found nowhere else in the world.
The H5 strain has primarily affected waterfowl, shorebirds, seabirds and birds of prey, but cases have also been reported among marine mammals and other animals, including cats, goats, alpacas and pigs.
Australian authorities are investigating whether the virus reached the country through migratory birds travelling from the sub-Antarctic region.
In June, scientists reported that the H5 strain had killed more than 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.
