Mainland Australia investigates suspected H5N1 after seabird tests positive

A migratory brown skua found at Cape Le Grand national park in southern Western Australia has tested positive for avian influenza, and further testing is under way to determine whether it is the H5N1 strain. The bird was found on Sunday and has since died, the WA government said on Friday.

A second bird, a giant petrel, was found sick in the same area and is being tested. Experts have warned the virus could devastate native bird species and potentially threaten marine mammals; Australia remains the only continent so far to have escaped the strain, which began spreading out of Europe in 2021 and has killed hundreds of millions of birds.

Initial testing at a WA laboratory returned a "suspected positive result for avian influenza", federal agriculture minister Julie Collins said. Samples were sent to the CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness for confirmation, with results expected on Saturday, and Collins said there was no evidence of mass mortality or infection in poultry at this time.

Australia, Cape Le Grand, Western Australia

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