WESTERN Australia is responding to two new suspect positive detections of H5 bird flu in wild migratory seabirds including one at Mullaloo beach on Perth’s north metropolitan coast.
The two individual dead petrels were reported to the emergency animal disease (EAD) hotline.
The second migratory seabird was observed further up the coast at Horrocks beach in the Shire of Northampton.
Yesterday the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) said it had investigated and both cases were positive for the H5 virus in preliminary WA testing.
Samples are being sent to the CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) to confirm the results and to determine if it is the H5NI bird flu strain of concern.
A DPIRD spokeswoman said the new suspect detections followed the presumed positive detection in a migratory giant petrel also found in the Whitfords-Mullaloo beach area last week.
“That case is being treated as a positive, with heightened surveillance in the coastal area,’’ she said.
“There are five positive (including presumed positive) detections of H5 bird flu in WA on the northern Perth, southern and south west coasts.
“To date, the virus has only been detected in individual migratory seabirds and there is no evidence of spread in WA wildlife or poultry.’’
DPIRD said community support had been vital to reporting sick or dead wildlife to the EAD hotline, so they could be prioritised for testing.
People are asked to avoid handing the animals, record their observations by photo or video and report to the EAD hotline on 1800 675 888.
There have been more than 1200 reports from WA to the EAD hotline since WA’s first confirmed case on 19 June.
Of these reports, 186 have been prioritised by DPIRD for further investigation or testing based on the risk of H5 bird flu.
To date, a total of 78 negative test results has been recorded across the state.
DPIRD said while not every report would result in birds needing to be collected or tested, every report played an important role in helping understand what was happening in the environment.
