H5 bird flu

New South Wales is responding to a suspect positive case of H5 bird flu. Samples from a Giant Petrel near Hawks Nest have tested positive for H5 influenza in preliminary testing at DPIRD’s laboratory at Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute.

The Malinauskas Government stands ready to respond to any potential H5 bird flu outbreak, backed by an arsenal of specialised resources including a mobile diagnostic laboratory, rapid response units and decontamination facilities.

South Australia has recorded its first confirmed case of H5 bird flu in a vagrant migratory seabird found on a beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The confirmed case - a southern giant petrel - was found by a wildlife welfare organisation on 14 June at Knights Beach, Port Elliot.

...South Australia has recorded its first confirmed case of H5 bird flu in a vagrant migratory seabird found on a beach on the Fleurieu Peninsula. The confirmed case, a Southern Giant Petrel, was found by a wildlife welfare organisation on 14 June on Knights Beach at Port Elliot in a debilitated condition and taken into care.

Wildlife and livestock surveillance activities are underway in South Australia following the detection of H5 bird flu in two vagrant migratory seabirds in Western Australia. Ground-based surveillance and drone surveys are being undertaken at sea lion breeding sites along the state’s west and far west coasts, as part of a coordinated response to the ongoing risk of H5 bird flu spreading to SA.

Bird flu in Esperance? All of the latest from Fiona L Fox from ARR, plus we catch up with Sam Starcevich from Esperance for the latest news on FAB (Farmers Across Borders), and all of your farming weather for the week with Super Jess (Jessica Lingard from the BOM).

As H5 bird flu has spread around the world the wild birds most affected have included waterfowl, shorebirds, seabirds and birds of prey or scavengers. H5 bird flu has also been detected in domestic pets including cats and dogs, farm animals including dairy cows and sporadically pigs, sheep and goats, marine mammals including dolphins and seals and wild animals including foxes and polar bears.

The Cook Labor Government is responding to the confirmed detection ... of H5 bird flu in a single wild seabird found in the remote Cape Le Grand area, east of Esperance. Testing by CSIRO's Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness has now confirmed Australia's first case of the highly infectious bird flu in a brown skua, a subantarctic species rarely found on the WA south coast.

Testing at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) has confirmed H5 high pathogenicity avian influenza (bird flu) in a brown skua in Western Australia. This is the highly pathogenic strain of concern that has been circulating globally, and is the first detection in Australia.  

Preliminary test results have confirmed H5 avian influenza (H5 bird flu) in additional wildlife species on Australia’s sub-Antarctic external territory of Heard Island following confirmation in southern elephant seals in November 2025.