Source : Perth Now news
Nearly 100 reports of sick or dead birds have flooded WA’s emergency animal disease hotline in just three days following the State’s first confirmed detection of the deadly H5N1 bird flu strain.
Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis revealed 94 calls were made to the hotline between Saturday and Monday, as public concern surged after two infected migratory seabirds were discovered near Esperance.
“As previously reported, there were 58 reports made to the emergency animal disease hotline over the weekend,” she said.
“Yesterday, on Monday, the 22nd of June, there were 36 reports to the animal emergency disease hotline.”
Despite the spike in reports, only two of Monday’s cases were deemed of significant enough concern to warrant laboratory testing for the H5N1 strain.
“These samples include from two wild sea birds, a cormorant in the Perth metropolitan area, and a giant petrel in Geraldton,” Ms Jarvis said.
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.
