Australia, last continent without H5 bird flu, detects first suspected case

Australia has detected its first suspected mainland case of H5N1 bird flu in a remote part of the country’s ​southwest, authorities said on Friday.

A migratory sea bird known as a brown ‌skua found in Western Australia’s Cape Le Grand National Park tested positive for avian influenza, and further testing is being conducted to confirm the strain, said state Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis.

“We ​are taking the suspected case of H5 bird flu seriously,” Jarvis said. “If ​this is confirmed H5 bird incursion, there will be a rapid ⁠and coordinated national response.”

The virulent strain of H5 bird flu has spread through ​wild bird and mammal populations since 2021, killing millions, infecting poultry and dairy farms ​and even some farm workers.

Australia is the only continent without a confirmed mainland case of the deadly strain. H5 was confirmed on Heard Island, a sub-Antarctic Australian territory in late 2025.

The country has been ​preparing for the arrival of H5N1 bird flu by tightening biosecurity at farms, ​testing shore birds for disease, vaccinating vulnerable species and war-gaming response plans.

“While, if confirmed, this would ‌obviously ⁠be a very concerning development, Australia has spent the past few years preparing for this likelihood,” Environment Minister Murray Watt said in a statement.

Results confirming whether the now-deceased brown skua had contracted H5 bird flu is expected on Saturday, Jarvis said.

She added that ​another sick bird, a ​giant petrol, was ⁠also found in the same area and is being tested for influenza.

Wayne Boardman, a wildlife veterinarian and associate professor at Adelaide ​University, said the virus could devastate Australia’s native wildlife.

“This strain ​of bird ⁠flu has caused huge die-offs of birds and sea mammals,” he said.

“My concerns are that if the H5N1 avian flu virus is confirmed, it will pose a huge ⁠risk ​to some of our more endangered shorebirds, some of ​our coastal raptors, and our precious, unique, endemic and endangered Australian sea lions, whose population is precarious.”