New Zealand confirms first case of H5 bird flu

New Zealand has confirmed its first case of the deadly H5 bird flu strain after a brown skua found on Petone Beach in the capital, Wellington, tested positive, local media reported Wednesday.

"This is a coastal detection in an individual ocean-going seabird and there is no evidence of any mass mortality in wildlife or transmission between wild birds in New Zealand. There has been no detection in poultry," the New Zealand Herald quoted Biosecurity and Food Safety Minister Andrew Hoggard as saying.

The detection follows confirmation of the virus in Australia last month, making New Zealand the latest country in the region to report the highly pathogenic strain.

Hoggard said H5 bird flu poses a low risk to public health because it rarely infects humans unless there is "direct, close, and prolonged contact with large numbers of sick birds." He added that eggs and poultry remain safe to eat.

Authorities urged the public not to touch sick or dead birds and to report groups of three or more affected birds.

The Department of Conservation has begun vaccinating 300 breeding birds from five of New Zealand's most endangered species, including the kakapo and takahe, as part of preparedness efforts.

The H5 strain has spread among wild birds and mammals since 2021, killing millions of animals and infecting poultry and dairy farms, as well as some farmworkers.