Australia has detected mass bird deaths in a second state, suspected to be caused by the deadly H5 bird flu, as Environment Minister Murray Watt warns of a long and difficult journey ahead.
The CSIRO has confirmed Australia’s first mass mortality event at Baudin Rocks off South Australia’s coast, with aerial surveillance identifying about 50 dead and 30 sick birds. Samples taken from five greater crested terns and a silver gull were sent to the CSIRO’s Centre for Disease Preparedness and confirmed positive on Monday.
Hours later, Victorian authorities reported a cluster of dead and sick greater crested terns in the Glenelg River estuary near Nelson and across Lawrence Rocks, in the state’s south-west. If samples taken from the Victorian birds return positive results, it would be Australia’s second confirmed mortality event from the deadly disease.
Minister Watt said the reality is that native and wild birds flying around and wild animals moving around will mean more mass mortality events like the one seen now. However, he emphasized that building up the resilience of the populations of native birds and mammals can be done.
In Victoria, the state’s chief biodiversity officer, James Todd, said aerial surveillance made observations consistent with what was recently reported in South Australia. The state’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Graeme Cooke, reported a clear increase in the number of dead terns along the coast in the past few days.
The region is home to an important breeding colony of Australasian gannets, seal colonies, and the Glenelg estuary and Discovery Bay, an internationally significant wetland site. South Australia’s environment minister, Emily Bourke, expressed concern about a confirmed case of H5 bird flu in a petrel found in the Coorong, one of several new locations where the deadly disease has been detected in the state.
The Coorong is a large area home to internationally significant wetlands that support populations of waterbirds and migratory species. Bourke said the confirmed location is of concern because it is where waterbirds are also located, potentially spreading the disease from seabirds to waterbirds.
