Australia has been urged to stick to its guns and resist panic as a deadly avian disease arrives on the mainland.
The H5N1 strain of bird flu has been detected on mainland Australia for the first time, with a sick brown skua found on a remote beach near Esperance, about 700km southeast of Perth, confirmed to be carrying the disease.
The discovery has fuelled fears among scientists, conservationists and agricultural groups, who point to mass mortality events and species-level population reductions in overseas outbreaks.
“It’s a really serious concern,” UNSW Centre for Ecosystem Science ecologist Simon Gorta told AAP.
“But it’s important to remain calm about this.
“There are absolutely measures in place to deal with this as best as we can, we’ve just got to stick to our guns.”
Australia has spent years observing other countries’ responses and preparing its own plan since the strain started becoming a significant problem in 2021.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the government knew it would not be bird flu-free forever and has developed more than 100 plans for important natural sites and susceptible species.
Some $100 million has been spent on supporting the preparedness.
“Whilst disappointing, this is not unexpected given the global spread of the H5 bird flu virus,” she said.
There is so far no evidence of mass mortality or infection in poultry or agricultural production systems, the federal government confirmed.
But a second migratory bird – a giant petrel – has returned a suspected positive result for H5.
Sea birds and marine mammals are particularly susceptible to the disease as many breed and gather in large aggregations.
The H5 strain was detected for the first time on Australian soil in October on Heard Island, 4000km southwest of Perth.
An estimated 13,359 southern elephant seal pups have died on the sub-Antarctic territory from the disease out of a total population of 17,364.
Other Australian animal groups are yet to be exposed to the virus and while predictive research has been conducted, the ramifications remain unknown, Mr Gorta said.
Many threatened species are also likely to be susceptible as the deadly strain would compound risk factors driving them towards extinction.
Wildlife groups including the Invasive Species Council and the Australian Marine Conservation Society have urged the government to boost funding to $200 million for two years.
Meanwhile, community members have been urged to avoid but report and record sick and dead birds and marine mammals to the emergency animal disease hotline.
Some calls had begun trickling in on Friday afternoon, West Australian Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis told reporters on Saturday.
“We all have an important role to play in protecting our wildlife, our poultry and other animals,” she said.
There have been some human infections overseas.
However the risk is low and transmission has generally occurred after very close contact with sick or dying animals.
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