Australia reported its first mainland case of H5 bird flu, marking the spread of the deadly virus to every continent on the planet.
The strain was found in a dead migratory seabird in remote Western Australia, Julie Collins, the country’s agriculture minister, said at a press conference in Canberra on Saturday. There’s currently no evidence of any infections among poultry, she said.
H5 bird flu is spreading globally in birds and spilling into mammals including cattle and seals. The infection in Australia now raises concerns about potential outbreaks among poultry and livestock. Human cases remain uncommon and are largely tied to close contact with infected animals.
“We all knew that we couldn’t be bird-flu free forever,” Collins said.
The dead bird, a brown skua, was found in an isolated area near the town of Esperance on the south coast of Western Australia. A second bird, a southern giant petrel that was found in the same location, is also suspected of having the virus, Collins said.
H5 bird flu causes severe illness and high death rates in birds, Collins said in a statement. Among infected birds, the disease can cause sudden death, sharp drops in egg production, head and neck swelling, breathing difficulties, and sometimes neurological symptoms like a loss of coordination, the statement showed.
The species involved in Australia’s outbreak suggest the virus probably reached mainland Australia through Southern Ocean wildlife movements, said Jane Younger, a senior lecturer at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies at the University of Tasmania.
“We should be particularly concerned about vulnerable seabird colonies and Australian fur seal populations,” Younger said. “This is a serious development for Australian wildlife.”
The virus has been reported in more than 700 dairy herds in California alone and has spread to at least 16 states since it was first identified in cattle in the US in 2024.
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