Tasmania’s confirmed bird flu cases have risen to 10 after four more birds from King Island tested positive overnight.
NRE Tas incident controller Wes Ford said two crested terns and two silver gulls were found at three locations on beaches and bays around Currie on King Island.
Seven of the 10 confirmed cases are on King Island and three are on the north coast of Tasmania.
The dead birds were reported to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on Sunday and recovered by an NRE Tas surveillance team.
Samples were tested at the Animal Health Laboratories at Mount Pleasant and returned positive results.
They will be sent to the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong for confirmation testing and sequencing.
“Unfortunately, we expect to continue to find bird flu and the community continues to play an important role by promptly reporting sick or dead birds to the Emergency Animal Disease hotline,” Ford said.
“Community vigilance complements NRE Tas’ monitoring and response efforts.”
Around 760 kilometres of Tasmania’s north-west coastline was inspected over the weekend.
“No mass mortalities or obvious instances of H5 bird flu were identified by crews and work is now underway to review footage in detail,” Ford said.
He said there had been no detections in Tasmanian poultry and that chicken and eggs remain safe to eat.
“We continue to work closely with industry, government and wildlife experts to support a coordinated response and protect the state’s poultry sector,” he said.
Ford said voluntary housing of poultry remains the most appropriate approach and encouraged producers to maintain on-farm biosecurity measures to reduce contact between poultry and wild birds.
Tasmanians who see sick or dead birds are urged to avoid contact, record what they see including photos and location and report it by calling 1800 675 888.
