The first suspected case of a deadly strain of bird flu that has killed millions of birds and mammals worldwide has been found in Western Australia, the federal government has confirmed.
The highly pathogenic avian influenza, known as H5, has devastated populations of seabirds, seals and other animals across the world.
If confirmed, the WA case would mark the first confirmation of the virus on mainland Australia.
Australia is the last continent in the world without a confirmed case.
On Friday afternoon, Federal Agricultural Minister Julie Collins said the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development was investigating.
“[The suspected case is] in a single migratory wild bird that was found sick in an isolated area in southern Western Australia,”
she said.
“The initial testing at the Western Australian laboratory has returned a suspected positive result for avian influenza.”
Ms Collins said samples had been sent to CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness.
She said the results were expected tomorrow.
“We cannot confirm yet whether it is the strain of concern that is circulating, at this stage, known as the H5 bird flu,” she said.
“There is no evidence of mass mortality at this time, nor is there any evidence of any infection in poultry.”
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