Chief Veterinary Officer Dr Beth Cookson has indicated the latest sick bird, a petrel found at Lancelin Beach in Western Australia, is presumed positive for H5 high-pathogenicity avian influenza (bird flu).
Virus sequencing in this latest bird could not be determined by the CSIRO’s Centre for Disease Preparedness, but the WA Primary Industries and Regional Development Department has taken the step of counting the sick bird as positive as a “precautionary measure”.
“There have now been 14 confirmed or presumed positive detections of H5 bird flu in Australia,” Cookson said.