Australia confirms 1st mass mortality of wildlife from bird flu

Australia has confirmed its first mass wildlife mass mortality linked to the deadly H5 bird flu, with greater crested terns found on Baudin Rocks, an island off South Australia's southeast coast, local media reported Monday.

Dead and sick birds were detected on Friday during aerial surveillance on Baudin Rocks, about 5 kilometers (3 miles) south of Cape Jaffa. Samples collected from the site later tested positive for H5 avian influenza, according to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

Australia, which remained the only continent free of the deadly virus until June 14, had since only detected bird flu in migratory subantarctic seabirds, mostly giant petrels, found on the coasts of South Australian, Western Australia and New South Wales.

The country has recorded 74 confirmed cases of the virus so far, including 54 in South Australia, 10 in Western Australia, seven in Victoria, two in New South Wales, and one in Queensland.

Federal Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the mass mortality was expected. "Sadly, we do know that once the H5 bird flu is spreading in wildlife and the natural environment, it is not possible to avoid significant losses, which is what we're starting to see now."

Collins added that there was no evidence of the bird flu in poultry or agricultural systems and the risk to human health remained low.

"We have invested and worked really closely with our agriculture, particularly our poultry sector, in terms of improved and increasing biosecurity to do everything we can do to keep it out of our agriculture system," she said. "But you do tend to see spillover impacts across the globe when it comes to the H5."

Collins said Australians could expect to see bird flu continue to spread, with larger numbers of wildlife affected.

"The reality is you can't stop native and wild birds flying around, and you can't stop wild animals moving around, and that will mean more mass mortality events like the one we have now seen," Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt also said, adding that this is the beginning of "what is likely to be a long, difficult journey in terms of the impacts on wildlife."

He said the national management plan for H5 bird flu had been activated, with an extra $24 million from state and federal governments.