SOUTH AUSTRALIA
A third confirmed case of the deadly H5 bird flu has been found in a giant petrel found at Knights Beach on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula.
South Australian Premier, Peter Malinauskas said two sick birds came into the care of a local wildlife rescue group on 14 June.
“Once that was drawn to the attention on June 19 to the relevant authorities in South Australia, we responded quickly and enabled and facilitated active testing of those birds for H5 bird flu,” the Premier said.
“This afternoon we received those results and they confirmed that one of those birds was negative and one them was positive.”
It is the first definite case in the state after two earlier confirmed results in birds that were found on a remote beach in Esperance, about 700km southeast of Perth.
Urgent testing is also under way after another suspected case was detected in a seabird found in Quindalup, southwest of Perth.
“This is obviously concerning,” said Federal Agriculture Minister, Julie Collins.
“But given the spread of (the virus) globally, it is not unexpected that other migratory birds may have arrived at other locations across the Australian coastline.”
A temporary ban on all poultry products imported from Australia, imposed by Papua New Guinea’s National Agriculture and Quarantine Inspection Authority, has been lifted after being put in place on Monday.
“We appreciate PNG’s willingness to work cooperatively and to remove some of these restrictions,” Ms Collins said.
PNG is Australia’s largest single market for chicken meat exports, accounting for nearly half of the $133 million in sales in 2023/24.
WA Agricultural Minister, Jackie Jarvis said there had been no evidence to date of mass mortalities among birds following the initial discovery of the sick animals.
More than 100 reports of potentially sick birds have been made to the national emergency hotline since the first H5N1 detection.
The poultry and agricultural sectors in Australia remain free from the flu, although the industry has been placed on high alert since the cases were confirmed in wild birds.
Major poultry producer Inghams has since announced it would lock down its WA sites to mitigate against any potential risks.
More than 200 million chickens have been culled in the US since the virus arrived there.
Australia had been the last continent free of the virus strain.
(Source:AAP).
