Australia confirms first H5N1 bird flu case on mainland
Australia has confirmed its first case of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain on the mainland, detected in a migratory seabird on the Western Australian coast.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins confirmed that a brown skua found unwell last Sunday at Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance in southern Western Australia died from H5N1. Tests also suggested a sick giant petrel found in the same area was infected, with samples sent to the CSIRO laboratory for confirmation.
The highly pathogenic strain has killed millions of birds globally and crossed over into mammal species including elephant seals. Until this week, Australia had been the only continent to escape the devastating strain. Collins told a media conference: "We all knew that we couldn’t be bird flu-free forever."
The disease had been detected on the remote Australian subantarctic territories of Heard Island and the McDonald Islands in October last year. Collins promised a nationally coordinated response, initially focusing on determining the extent of spread in wildlife. "We will know within a few days about whether or not this has established itself in any populations in Australia, or whether it’s migratory birds that have come up from the sub-Antarctic," she said.
Chief Veterinary Officer Beth Cookson said the Western Australian government was conducting on-ground surveillance. She advised the public to avoid contact with sick or dead birds, but to take a photo and report the location to authorities. "At this early stage, it is difficult to make a conclusion about whether the infection has established in wildlife populations," Cookson said. "It is not present in our poultry or agriculture production systems."
A meeting of the consultative committee for emergency animal disease on Saturday discussed test results and response measures, including increased surveillance. "It is an evolving situation, and there will be some information that we don’t know, and that will continue to emerge over the coming days, and potentially weeks," Cookson said.
This development comes days after scientists confirmed thousands of southern elephant seal pups on Heard Island and hundreds of adult king penguins in the subantarctic had died from the disease through 2025 and 2026. Threatened Species Commissioner Fiona Fraser said governments had analyzed which birds and mammals were most susceptible. Particularly at risk are the Tasmanian devil, critically endangered orange-bellied parrot, black swan, little penguin, and blue-billed duck. Marine mammals such as the Australian fur seal and sea lion are also at risk if the disease becomes established.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the arrival of H5N1 was "concerning" but the government had spent $113 million in preparation and was focused on trying to limit its spread. "What we’re about is making sure, firstly, that we do whatever we can to restrict the spread," he said.
