H5 bird flu has been detected for the first time in the Perth metropolitan area, in a migratory seabird found dead at a popular northern suburbs beach.
The discovery of the giant petrel between Mullalloo and Whitfords beaches has sparked a warning to Perth pet owners.
The bird was reported on Tuesday through the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline with preliminary testing on the bird returning a positive result on Friday morning.
The samples will now be sent to NSW for further testing by the CSIRO to confirm the case.
Food and Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis said that she was expecting results to be confirmed over the weekend.
Fisheries officers have been asked to patrol Perth beaches as part of the department’s heightened surveillance effort, looking for any further signs of migratory birds or sick or deceased wildlife.
If confirmed, it would be the sixth confirmed case in the country and fifth in WA.
It would also be the furthest north the disease has been detected, with four cases on Australia’s southern coast and a fifth detected at Quindalup in the South West.
With the first case in WA’s capital, Ms Jarvis urged pet owners to be extra careful letting their pets roam.
“All detections involve migratory seabirds that are known to occasionally visit southern Australia, there is no evidence of spread or large scale deaths in local wildlife or any detections in poultry,” she said.
“The community is encouraged, however, to keep pets away from wildlife, including preventing cats from roaming and keeping dogs on leads.”
It comes the same day NSW recorded its first suspected case of the deadly strain, found in a sample of a giant petrel in Hawksnest, north of Newcastle.
The only other confirmed bird flu case outside of WA has been in South Australia.