source : the age
A Phillip Island penguin has died from bird flu as the toll of the highly contagious virus mounts rapidly across Victoria.
The state’s chief veterinary officer, Dr Graeme Cooke, and chief biodiversity officer James Todd confirmed the bird’s death on Saturday afternoon.
So far across Victoria, H5 bird flu has been detected in wild birds in Phillip Island, Mildura, Warrnambool, Hamilton, St Andrews Beach and Hawkesdale. Concerned residents took to social media community pages during the week to share photos of the dying birds, with many also seen around Portland.
This week, the state government said it was “moving quickly” to vaccinate little penguins against the deadly virus.
Doses of the vaccine were due to be administered to penguins on Phillip Island “early next week”. More than 5000 of the birds on the island and in St Kilda are expected to be vaccinated. However, the rollout will be challenging because each bird needs to be caught and vaccinated twice to receive the full dose.
While the government said the vaccination would not stop the deadly bird flu from circulating, it would “help reduce its impact alongside existing biosecurity, surveillance and wildlife response measures”.
“The death of the little penguin is concerning, but we are proceeding with the vaccination program as quickly as possible,” Todd said on Saturday.
“In fact, it really just makes that [an] even more urgent task to get on with.”
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