Source : Perth Now news
A third bird has tested positive for H5 bird flu in South Australia, with another suspected case in Western Australia.
The giant petrel was located on Knights Beach at Port Elliot in South Australia and later tested positive for bird flu following processing in Geelong, Premier Peter Malinauskas said on Wednesday.
Another migratory seabird is understood to have also been found at Quindalup in southwestern Western Australia.
Mr Malinauskas said there was “no reason for concern or alarm”, with the bird having come from the Antarctic or sub-Antarctic region to South Australia.
The Labor Premier said the bird had been picked up by a wildlife welfare organisation, who put up a social media post stating it was caring for the petrel which was unwell, which drew the attention of authorities.
A second bird also returned a negative result, he said.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the finding was “concerning, but given the spread of H5 globally, it is not unexpected that other migratory birds may have arrived at other locations across the Australian coastline.
“As I’ve said in recent days, I do want to assure the Australians that our government’s bird flu response is still swift and coordinated, and that we’ve enacted our biosecurity response arrangements.
“We’ve been working closely with state and territory governments who are managing the on ground response, including in this new detection in South Australia.”
Ms Collins said Papua New Guinea had suspended meat and poultry product imports from Australia.
As of Wednesday afternoon, that ban had been lifted with some exceptions, she said.
‘We’ll continue to work with them on this. We appreciate PNG’s willingness to work cooperatively and to remove some of these restrictions,” she said.
Agriculture and Food minister Jackie Jarvis said she had been informed shortly before question time of another positive test result.
“I’ll be receiving an update from the chief veterinary officer straight after question time, and then I’ll provide an update to the public, as you would expect us to do,” the WA minister said.
Two migratory birds – a brown skua and a northern giant petrel – earlier tested positive in the state’s southeast.
Western Australia Health Minister Meredith Hammat said 24 samples had been taken as of Tuesday.
Of those, eight had so far returned a negative result.
