Australia Reports 5th Mainland Case Of H5N1 Bird Flu

CANBERRA, June 30 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Australian authorities on Tuesday confirmed the fifth mainland case of the deadly H5N1 strain of avian influenza, but said there is no evidence of local transmission, Xinhua reported.

Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry, Julie Collins, and Chief Veterinary Officer, Beth Cookson, told reporters in Canberra that testing has detected the H5N1 strain in a migratory giant petrel that was found at a beach on the south coast of Western Australia (WA).

It takes the total number of confirmed cases of the deadly strain in mainland Australia to five, four of which have been detected in WA.

The Australian mainland was the only continent without a case of the highly pathogenic strain, which has caused the deaths of millions of birds and other animals globally since 2020, until it was detected in a migratory bird that was found in southern WA on June 14.

"The detections so far have been in wild migratory seabirds, and there's no evidence of spread to resident populations," Cookson said on Tuesday.

A notice posted on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries, and Forestry's website said that there is no evidence of mass mortality or of infection in the poultry industry.

The department said that the risk to human health remains low and urged anyone who notices multiple sick or dead birds not to touch them and to report the incident to authorities. 

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA