Australian scientists have confirmed the nation's first case of highly contagious H5 bird flu in a local seabird, marking a significant development in the global outbreak.
Laboratory tests detected the virus in a greater crested tern found in Robe, South Australia. Previously, Australia's 12 confirmed H5 cases since June were all in migratory seabirds.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins stated the finding is concerning but not unexpected. She emphasized there is no evidence of mass bird mortality and the risk to human health remains low. The virus has not spread to poultry or agricultural systems.
Officials have implemented "enhanced surveillance" in the coastal area where the tern was found. Scientists are working to determine the pathway of transmission. The H5 strain, which has devastated global bird populations, poses a potential extinction risk to Australia's unique fauna, which includes nearly half of the continent's wild bird species found nowhere else on Earth.