There are more than a hundred confirmed cases of the deadly H5N1 bird flu across Australia.
The virus has spread to five states with the bulk of cases in South Australia.
Testing has confirmed the first mass mortality from bird flu in Australian wildlife on an island off SA’s south-east coast.??
Here’s what we know about this strain of bird flu.
What is bird flu?
Can I get bird flu?
Can my pets get bird flu?
Didn’t we just have bird flu?
What are bird flu symptoms?
Are other animals at risk?
The federal government released a risk analysis with more than two thousand native birds and mammals ranked on their likelihood of surviving the spread of the H5N1 strain of bird flu.
It found 386 native Australian bird and mammal species have been assessed as high to extreme risk.
In early August, the environment minister Murray Watt said he expected there to be more mass mortality events in the country due to bird flu.
He added he was concerned about the danger it posed to mammals such as seals, sea lions and dolphins, which were all in high risk categories for the virus.
“That will be distressing for people when we start to see that here in Australia,”
he said.
“One of the sub-Antarctic islands that Australia owns, Heard Island, we have seen a mass mortality of baby seals there.
“We’ll do everything we can to try to keep those species at a population level that they’re still going to be around forever, but it’s going to have very serious impacts.”
Elephant seals like Tasmania’s Neil the seal (pictured) are at high risk for bird flu. (Supplied: Sam Volker Photography)
At least 30,000 sea lions were infected with H5N1, following its spread across Argentina, Chile, Peru, Uruguay and Brazil in late 2022.
There is also evidence that H5N1 caused more than 17,000 southern elephant seals to die in Argentina.
The spread of the virus overseas raise serious concerns for University of New South Wales seabird ecologist Simon Gorta.
“That sort of impact hasn’t been seen with bird flu before in these species, and they’re highly vulnerable as it is,” he said.
“There’s a number of other threats that these species face, so to have a serious disease on top of all of that is a major conservation concern.”
What are we doing to prevent the spread?
There have been 155 confirmed cases of H5N1 across five states.
The federal government’s framework on national poultry biosecurity measures began on July 31.
State and territory governments are responsible for surveillance and issuing advice on biosecurity.
While the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) is coordinating the national response.
A dead bird on a lawn in the town of Robe on South Australia’s south-east coast. (ABC News: Joshua Brine)
University of Sydney’s Associate Professor Campbell-Ward said the public plays a critical role of being the eyes on the ground for authorities.
“This is certainly a disease of global importance and every citizen can play their role. Australia and New Zealand are the last region in the world to be impacted by this disease,” she said.
“It’s really important that if anybody does see sick or dead birds, that they report it to the emergency animal disease hotline.
“Avoid contact with that animal. It’s really helpful to record what they see, and then call the hotline and advice will be provided.”
