Bird flu reaches every continent as Australia confirms first H5N1 case

The first case of H5N1 bird flu has been confirmed in Australia, meaning the virus has now found its way to every continent.

The Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry said the virus was found in a single seabird, a brown skua, near Esperance on the south coast of Western Australia, in Cape Le Grand National Park.

Australia’s Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said it was “responding as part of a nationally coordinated plan with the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and stakeholders across [Western Australia] to reduce the impact of this disease.”

The outbreak in the U.S. has left millions of birds dead and has caused grocery store hikes and shortages, most notably with eggs.

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The spread to humans is rare.

“We all knew we couldn’t be bird flu-free forever,” Australia’s federal Agricultural Secretary Julie Collins said in a press conference on Saturday.

Jackie Jarvis, Western Australia’s agricultural minister, said in a press conference on Friday: “As a result of WA’s established early detection system, appropriate action was taken, including isolating the bird and collecting samples for testing.”

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She added, “this shows that Australia’s and Western Australia’s preparedness measures have worked. We are pleased to see the surveillance, and reporting system working as intended, with the bird reported through to DPIRD for further investigation.”

By Saturday, Jarvis said further testing confirmed the strain that she said was consistent with bird flu found in the remote Australian territories of Heard Island and McDonald Islands near Antarctica, which devastated the wildlife there.

Last year, around 13,000 of a population of 17,000 elephant seal pups died there in just a few months after being exposed.

The islands are wildlife sanctuaries.

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“Importantly, there have been no detections in poultry and there is no evidence of mass mortality,” Jarvis said of the mainland case.

A second case of another migratory bird is also suspected near Esperance.  

Reuters contributed to this report.