![\"Agriculture](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/3a7e396233dcd88002dbf5eece5f1bbd9b047e24-16x9-x1139y63w2192h1233.jpg\")
Camera IconAgriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper\/The Sunday Times<\/p>\nMore than a dozen birds stretching from Geraldton to South Australia\u2019s southern coast are undergoing urgent H5N1 testing after two infected migratory seabirds were discovered near Esperance.<\/p>\n
The bird flu panic has gripped WA after almost 100 reports of sick or dead birds flooded the state\u2019s emergency animal disease hotline in just three days, sparking the formation of a parliamentary Emergency Animal Diseases committee.<\/p>\n
The surge in public concern follows recent confirmation of Australia\u2019s first H5 bird flu cases in two migratory subantarctic birds found on Cape Le Grand beach \u2014 about 56km east of Esperance.<\/p>\n
The Federal Government confirmed Australia\u2019s first suspected case of the deadly global strain of bird flu had been discovered in a brown skua on June 14.<\/p>\n
A second migratory bird, a giant petrel, returned a positive test for the H5 virus on Monday.<\/p>\n
Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis revealed 94 calls were made to the hotline between Saturday and Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs previously reported, there were 58 reports made to the emergency animal disease hotline over the weekend,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOn Monday, the 22nd of June, there were 36 reports to the animal emergency disease hotline.\u201d<\/p>\n
Camera IconAgriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper\/The Sunday Times<\/p>\n
Despite the spike in reports, only two of Monday\u2019s cases were deemed significant enough to warrant laboratory testing.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese samples include from two wild sea birds, a cormorant in the Perth metropolitan area, and a giant petrel in Geraldton,\u201d Ms Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
The latest samples bring the number of pending H5N1 test results across Western Australia to 11 as authorities race to determine whether the virus has spread.<\/p>\n
\u201cPreliminary results from all samples will be made public when available,\u201d Ms Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no evidence the virus has spread, but we have asked the community to remain alert and follow advice about reporting sick or dead birds or marine mammals.\u201d<\/p>\n
The virus has potentially stretched along the Great Australian Bight coastline, with two more dead birds found just across the border in South Australia.<\/p>\n
The birds \u2014 a white-headed petrel and a soft-plumaged petrel \u2014 were found washed ashore at Fowlers Bay according to BirdLife Australia\u2019s senior adviser Sean Dooley.<\/p>\n
\u201cDiscovered on the opposite side of the Bight to Western Australia were two dead seabirds,\u201d Mr Dooley told The West Australian.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth of those seabirds are Southern Ocean seabirds that move around the circumpolar Southern Ocean following the winds, and they do tend to come up closer to Australia in the winter.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth of those species breed on Crozet Island, which is north of Heard Island, and there had been bird flu outbreaks there in recent months and the last year or so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr Dooley said it\u2019s not unusual for seabirds to be blown in or land exhausted, and then die if they\u2019re not taken into care.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo the fact that there are birds on the beach doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it is bird flu, but given that bird flu is present on Crozet Island and Heard Island, and we have two positive cases, it\u2019s really important that we take caution and treat any dead seabird that comes ashore as a potential victim of H5N1 bird flu,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Dooley said he is trying to stay positive rather than jump to conclusions despite the destructive nature of the virus.<\/p>\n
\u201cBirdLife Australia has been extremely worried about this for about four years now, and we\u2019ve been working to try and make sure we\u2019re as best prepared as possible because if there\u2019s an outbreak, it could well be devastating for many Australian native birds,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/ffcafa5b7f239f729951899213baed6ad6a76414.jpg\")
Camera IconTwo sick birds have breeding habitat on islands where the flu strain has killed thousands of seals. Credit: Esperance Wildlife Hospital and Sanctuary\/AAP<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment, though, I\u2019d be exercising a degree of caution in jumping to conclusions because lots of things kill seabirds and we don\u2019t know yet whether bird flu is involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Jarvis also remained calm about the new discoveries, suggesting it is common to find dead birds along the coast in winter.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m advised it\u2019s not unusual for these type of sea birds, these migratory birds to be found along the West Australian coast, particularly this time of year, when weather events can blow them off course,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd so it is not a concern that these birds were found, I guess, because of the species, the migratory nature of these birds. That\u2019s why it was determined that there should be tests.\u201c<\/p>\n
However, confusion broke out within government ranks over what would trigger a major escalation in respone.<\/p>\n
WA Environment Minister Matthew Swinbourn said on Monday it will take four more H5N1 detections for a \u201cfull response\u201d to be triggered.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I understand it, it\u2019s six birds (to trigger a full response), so it\u2019s not very many at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ms Jarvis, on Tuesday, said this simply isn\u2019t true.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs he walked into a press conference, he misspoke,\u201d Ms Jarvis said about Mr Swinbourn.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo provide some clarity around some media reports yesterday that it would take six positive results to escalate the current situation, that is not correct.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Jarvis confirmed the next stages of government response are determined by science, not a set number of discoveries.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny more positive results will be reported to the consultative committee made up of chief veterinary officers from around Australia,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is the chief veterinary officers that make the determination of the next phase, we are driven by the science, and so there is no, there is no set number.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Jarvis added that \u201cthe likely trigger (for a bigger response) would be that it has spread into wildlife\u201d.<\/p>\n
Official government documents outline that in response to a finding of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus infection in wild birds, the Consultative Committee on Emergency Animal Diseases will be convened, and an epidemiological risk assessment of the situation will be conducted.<\/p>\n
The official assessment will consider the virus subtype, the possible source of infection, the species of birds affected, the clinical status of the birds, and their proximity to commercial birds and public amenity areas.<\/p>\n
According to government guidelines, no action will be required unless the risk assessment indicates an unacceptable threat to animal or public health.<\/p>\n
When a response is necessary, it will be in line with the level of assessed risk and may include the declaration of restricted areas, surveillance to determine the extent of infection, enhanced biosecurity, a public awareness campaign to communicate risk and protection of public health in consultation with human health authorities.<\/p>\n
The high stakes are outlined in the Government and Livestock Industry Cost Sharing Deed in Respect of Emergency Animal Disease Responses document, which classifies avian influenza H5 as a category two emergency animal disease.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
The document defines category two as: \u201cEmergency Animal Diseases that have the potential to cause major national socio-economic consequences through very serious international trade losses, national market disruptions and very severe production losses in the livestock industries that are involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis category includes diseases that may have slightly lower national socio-economic consequences, but also have significant public health and\/or environmental consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the severe classification, Ms Jarvis said there\u2019s no need to panic buy, and that lockdowns limiting public access to egg and poultry farms are a precaution only.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere has been no interruption to production. I would not expect there to be interruption of production,\u201d Ms Jarvis said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe poultry industry is well prepared for this. In other jurisdictions overseas, this disease was not detected until it got into commercial flocks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the advantage of two years preparation. Egg farmers are well versed in what they need to do. I wouldn\u2019t speak that we would see shortages like they saw in other countries.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"More than a dozen birds stretching from Geraldton to South Australia\u2019s southern coast are undergoing urgent H5N1 testing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":755218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[64,63,137,44,45],"class_list":["post-755217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-health","tag-news","tag-wa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755217","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=755217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/755218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}