{"id":751519,"date":"2026-06-21T20:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/751519\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T20:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:54:13","slug":"bird-flu-australia-test-results-expected-as-authorities-rush-to-define-h5-bird-flu-strain-risk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/751519\/","title":{"rendered":"Bird flu Australia: Test results expected as authorities rush to define H5 bird flu strain risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

Results are expected to come back on Monday from testing on a second bird after Australia<\/a>\u2018s first case of the deadly H5 bird <\/a>flu<\/a> was confirmed on Western Australia<\/a>\u2019s south coast.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Parks and Wildlife<\/a> Service rangers, who spent Sunday on the ground in Esperance, called on the public to report any sick or dead animals<\/a>, as experts admitted the strain had \u201cpandemic potential\u201d<\/a> but was at a low risk of affecting humans.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Parks and Wildlife Service rangers spent Sunday, June 21, 2026, on the ground in Esperance after H5 bird flu was discovered in a dead bird.\u00a09News<\/p>\n

Cape Le Grand National Park, about 600 kilometres south-east of Perth<\/a>, remains at the centre of a potential wildlife emergency.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s certainly a heightened awareness of this around town,\u201d Esperance Shire President Ron Chambers said.<\/p>\n

A brown skua migratory seabird tested positive to H5 bird flu at the weekend but testing was still under way on a dead giant petrel to confirm whether it was infected.<\/p>\n

The first confirmation of the deadly strain\u2019s presence in Australia has resulted in a race to protect the nation\u2019s wildlife<\/a>, from the black swan to the Tasmanian devil and sea lion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are very concerned for our native wildlife and our livestock industries as well,\u201d Western Australian government<\/a> minister Reece Whitby said on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt has to be taken seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tracey Lang runs Esperance Bird and Animal Park Cafe, which has more than 300 birds and thousands of visitors a year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Esperance Shire President Ron Chambers called on people to report dead birds after H5 bird flu was discovered in Western Australia.\u00a09News<\/p>\n

Following recent rain<\/a>, she\u2019s currently concerned with trying to stop the wild birds it attracted from getting in.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may potentially lose the lot. We have to be ready for that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The poultry industry is also on high alert, ramping up security measures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is their livelihoods on the line if this outbreak really spreads and takes hold,\u201d WA Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it\u2019s very important that there is full disclosure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Australia\u2019s<\/p>\n

This brown skua, found at Cape Le Grand National Park near Esperance and taken in by a carer, is Australia’s first confirmed H5 strain case.\u00a09News<\/p>\n

The deadly disease<\/a> wipes out millions of animals around the world.<\/p>\n

There have been 16 reports of dead birds between Perth and Esperance, including five seabirds.<\/p>\n

Samples are being collected and further tests will be done to establish whether they have the disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you see any sick birds or dead birds, stay away from them but report their location and report it to the authorities,\u201d Chambers said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Results are expected to come back on Monday from testing on a second bird after Australia\u2018s first case…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751520,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-751519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}