Deadly H5 bird flu found in local Australian seabird for first time

A greater crested tern. The Australian coastal seabird has an overlapping range with migratory birds that previously tested positive for H5 bird flu. Photograph: imageBROKER/David & Micha Sheldon/Getty Images/imageBROKER RF View image in fullscreen A greater crested tern. The Australian coastal seabird has an overlapping range with migratory birds that previously tested positive for H5 bird flu. Photograph: imageBROKER/David & Micha Sheldon/Getty Images/imageBROKER RF Deadly H5 bird flu found in local Australian seabird for first time Native greater crested tern – a common coastal bird – tests positive for disease after being discovered at Robe on SA’s Limestone Coast Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The first case of deadly H5 bird flu in local wildlife has been recorded in a bird found on the South Australian coast. The federal agriculture minister, Julie Collins, said on Friday that a greater crested tern – a common coastal bird – had tested positive for the disease. The dead bird was found at Robe on SA’s Limestone Coast. “While this, of course, is a concerning development, it is not unexpected and is another sign that our strong biosecurity system is working,” Collins said. NSW records first suspected case of deadly H5 bird flu as virus reaches Australia’s east coast Read more Until Friday, cases of bird flu had been detected in migratory subantarctic seabirds, mostly giant petrels, found on the coasts of SA, Western Australia and New South Wales. Collins said the South Australian government was leading the response to the discovery of the greater crested tern by conducting extra surveillance to help establish whether there had been further spread in local wildlife. “What we do know is that this is a coastal seabird that has an overlapping coastal range with migratory seabirds that have previously tested positive for H5,” she said. Earlier this week, the SA government said it had completed the largest aerial survey of the state’s coastline, islands and reefs in 40 years and found “no widespread evidence of sick or dead seabirds or seals”. Explore more on these topics Bird flu Wildlife Birds news Share Reuse this content