The Invasive Species Council is calling on the Albanese Government to invest at least $200 million over the next two years to strengthen wildlife resilience after authorities confirmed the first detection of highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza in a wild migratory bird in Western Australia.
The virus has devastated wildlife populations around the world, causing mass mortality events in seabirds, marine mammals and other wildlife.
‘Today’s confirmation is the news conservationists, scientists and wildlife carers have been hoping never to hear,’ Invasive Species Council Policy Director Dr Carol Booth said.
‘For years Australia has watched as H5N1 swept across continents, killing millions of wild birds and tens of thousands of mammals. The virus’s arrival on mainland Australia means we are entering a new and uncertain chapter for Australian wildlife.
‘We are pleased to see the serious and rapid government response to this detection. The preparation, planning and coordination over the past 2 years mean Australia is in a strong position to respond.
‘The concern now is that this detection makes one thing absolutely clear: bird flu is coming for Australian wildlife. Whether this particular outbreak is contained or not, the threat is no longer theoretical.
‘The Albanese Government should urgently invest at least $200 million over the next two years in a national wildlife resilience package. This is a no-regrets investment.
‘This is a genuine wildlife emergency and it must be treated as such with emergency funding to increase efforts to protect wildlife populations.
‘The best thing we can do now is strengthen the resilience of native species before large-scale outbreaks occur. That means ramping up efforts to tackle invasive species, restore habitat, reduce predation pressure and support wildlife recovery programs.
‘Community vigilance will be incredibly important in the weeks and months ahead.
‘We urge anyone who encounters sick or dead wildlife to avoid touching the animal, record it on your phone and report it to the emergency animal disease hotline.’
Media Inquiries: (02) 8006 5004
Images of seals and sea birds available here.
Background:
What to look out for
- The public should avoid, record and report any unusual bird deaths immediately by calling the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.
- Wildlife Health Australia have produced detailed advice for people who encounter sick or dead wild birds.
- Look for:
- Small groups of sick or dead wild birds of any species.
- Individual or less than 5 sick or dead wild seabirds, waterbirds, shorebirds or birds of prey (e.g. eagles, hawks)
- Infected live birds may show a wide range of signs if they are sick, including:
- lack of coordination, tremors, swimming in circles
- twisted necks or other unusual posture
- inability to stand or fly
- diarrhoea
- difficulty breathing, coughing or sneezing
- swelling around the head, neck and eyes
- cloudiness or change in colour of the eyes.
Australian H5N1 bird flu risk assessment:
- The Australian Government commissioned a risk assessment of High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza (HPAI) which was released in July 2023.
- The assessment found that the risk of ‘HPAI virus exposure and establishment in resident wild birds’ is ‘moderate/high’ and that the impact of this would be ‘catastrophic’, leading to an overall risk of ‘high’.
- Some key findings from this assessment include:
- Extrapolating from global outbreaks of HPAI H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b, there are likely to be significant consequences associated with incursion and establishment of HPAI in Australia via wild birds given a moderate likelihood of incursions.
- The frequency of HPAI incursions into Australia via wild birds may be significantly lower compared with other continents and as a result, containment of outbreaks may be more achievable in the Australian context if they are identified early.
- Consequences to wild birds are assessed as CATASTROPHIC with moderate uncertainty, consequences to poultry are assessed as HIGH with moderate uncertainty and consequences to wild mammals are assessed as MINOR with moderate uncertainty.
- In multiple outbreaks the scale of mortality has been extremely high, often involving deaths of 100s, 1,000s or 10,000s of individuals with significant proportions of birds, resulting in mortality globally estimated to be in the millions.
- The Australian black swan has recently been determined to be highly susceptible.
Impacts overseas
- Globally, more than 600 bird species and more than 80 mammal species have been affected by H5 bird flu .
- Since arriving in South America in late 2022, bird flu has killed more than 30,000 South American sea lions, 17,000 southern elephant seal pups and unknown numbers of porpoises, dolphins and otters, as well as at least 650,000 native birds.
- The mortality rate of elephant seal pups in Argentina’s Península Valdés reached 95% in 2023 compared to only 1% in 2022.
- Mass mortality events have been observed in penguins and skuas since bird flu arrived in Antarctica in early 2024. The virus arrived at the end of the breeding season for birds and mammals, so even greater impact is expected in the warmer months.
- In the UK, H5N1 has wiped out about 30% of the country’s breeding population of roseate terns, great skua and gannets.
- Since 2020, there have been outbreaks in Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, North America, South America and Antarctica – Australia remains the only continent free of high pathogenicity avian influenza.
- Humans and other mammals can become infected through contact with live or dead infected animals, or contaminated environments. Current strains of avian influenza do not appear to transmit between humans.
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