Authorities have sent a dead bird found on a Sydney beach for testing after the first case of a severe and deadly form of bird flu arrived in NSW.
On Saturday, Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty confirmed a giant petrel found on Bennetts Beach in Hawks Nest, north of Newcastle, had tested positive for H5N1 after a spate of cases along Australia’s southern coastline.
A dead cormorant on Narrabeen Beach on the same day prompted Surf Life Saving NSW members to set up a make-do exclusion zone around the bird with traffic cones.
Staff notified the emergency animal disease hotline and on Saturday afternoon the bird was collected and sent for testing at the Elizabeth McArthur Institute in Menangle.
If initial results are suspicious, the bird will be tested at CSIRO’s Centre for Disease Preparedness in Geelong to confirm infection.
Surf Life Saving NSW are part of a broad network of personnel recruited to assist with surveillance efforts, including staff from the National Parks and Wildlife Service and animal hospitals.
Overseas, the virulent form of bird flu has destroyed wild bird populations, killed tens of thousands of mammals, sickened livestock and devastated poultry farms and forced the culling of hundreds of millions of chickens in the US.
Authorities have stressed there is no evidence of widespread transmission between birds in Australia and the disease has not infected local poultry farms.
“There is no need to panic,” Moriarty said on Sunday morning. “People should continue buying chicken, continue buying eggs in the usual way.”
The sick petrel found on the NSW Mid North Coast was the sixth confirmed case of bird flu detected in washed-up petrels and skuas across Australia in the past fortnight.
More infected shorebirds from the sub-Antarctic are likely to arrive. Keeping the virus from spreading into wildlife – which could be catastrophic for a range of native species from black swans to sea lions – is a matter of humans getting to the infected birds before natural scavengers.
“We have escalated and will continue to undertake our significant surveillance exercises that we have had in place since this first bird was found,” Moriarty said. “We’ve got over 500 people trained up to do proper surveillance.”
Acting Australian Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Sam Hamilton convened the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Diseases – a body linking industry with federal and state governments – to discuss biosecurity measures on Friday.
The committee encouraged states to temporarily allow poultry farmers to house free-range birds inside to reduce the chance of poultry becoming infected by wild birds.
“Poultry producers are reminded that on-farm biosecurity practices are crucial to protect the health of their flocks,” the committee said in a statement.
Signs of the virus in wild birds include bent necks, inability to walk or fly, a droopy or puffed-up appearance or sudden mass deaths.
Angus Dalton is the science reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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