A suspected case of the H5 bird flu has been detected in a wild migratory bird in southern Western Australia, with Tasmanian based federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins saying the finding is “sobering but not unexpected.”
Collins held a press conference in Hobart this afternoon where she made the announcement.
The initial test on the bird, which was found ill and has since died, returned a positive result for avian influenza.
Collins said confirmation of the specific strain is still pending.
“This is a migratory bird that was ill that has since died and has tested, the initial test has tested for the bird flu,” she said.
“Samples have now been sent to CSIRO’s Australian Center for Disease Preparedness for confirmatory testing, with results expected tomorrow.”
Collins stressed the virus had not been detected in the poultry or agricultural system and said a meeting of state, territory and industry experts was convened to discuss next steps.
She said Australia had been the only continent free of H5 bird flu and acknowledged it could not remain so forever due to migratory birds.
“We cannot confirm yet whether it is the strain of concern that is circulating at this stage, known as the H5 bird flu, [and] there is no evidence of any mass mortality at this time.”
She says the federal government had invested more than $100 million in preparedness, including an additional $11 million in the most recent budget.
“I want to reassure the public that we’re well placed to respond to and to manage this situation,” she said.
Kettering’s Raptor Refuge operator Craig Webb said the arrival of bird flu in Tasmania is “inevitable” after 13,000 seals were found dead from the virus on Heard Island this week.
“The experts have been saying that we dodged a bullet last year, that it didn’t arrive in Tassie last year, and now with this devastating news of all these seals dying on Heard Island, we believe it’s just a matter of time,” Webb told Pulse.
“it’s inevitable it’s gonna hit Tassie and it’s bloody scary.”
“It’s gonna kill a lot of animals,” he said.
“It’s already annihilated all sorts of birds on the … birds and mammals in North America, and all over the world.”
Webb said Raptor Refuge, the largest raptor rehabilitation facility in Australia, had invested in quarantine aviaries, X-ray machines, water sterilisation units and physical barriers with funding secured through the Zoos Aquarium Association from the federal government.
