Two more cases of bird flu have been confirmed in Tasmania, with two crested terns found near Currie on King Island testing positive for the H5 strain.
The birds were collected on Thursday afternoon and tested at the Animal Health Laboratories at Mount Pleasant.
Tasmania has now recorded four cases of bird flu in wild birds – a brown skua from Rocky Cape and three crested terns from King Island.
Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania incident controller Wes Ford said all detections have been in wild seabirds, with no cases found in commercial or backyard poultry.
“Tasmanians can be reassured it is safe to eat food like eggs and chicken,” he said.
The first crested tern found on King Island was alive but clearly sick when reported by a member of the public and was captured and euthanised on site.
The other two birds were found dead on the same stretch of beach.
Ford said two more potentially sick birds were reported on Friday morning, but officers were unable to locate them.
Samples from the latest detections have been sent to the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong for further testing.
NRE Tasmania secretary Jason Jacobi said it was “entirely expected” that additional cases would be found.
“We will continue to detect additional birds over the coming weeks and months,” he said at a press conference yesterday.
Jacobi confirmed the brown skua found at Rocky Cape earlier in the week tested positive for the same highly pathogenic strain recorded in other states.
He said a mass mortality event could not be ruled out but the department was addressing each case individually.
A helicopter aerial survey was set to cover the upper West Coast, King Island, north-west offshore islands and the Stanley region today to identify any further bird deaths or signs of disease.
Tasmanians who see sick or dead birds are urged to avoid contact and call the Emergency Animal Disease hotline on 1800 675 888.
