Inside the plan to vaccinate wild birds, starting with the little penguins at Manly

Little penguins, black cockatoos, emus and owls at Taronga Zoo are among the first recipients of a vaccination for H5N1 avian influenza, while the NSW government has urged owners of backyard chickens or of pet birds to take extra precautions.

Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said the vaccine rollout will expand to include wild populations, including the little penguins in Manly and Barunguba Montague Island off Narooma on the South Coast.

“We don’t know how the vaccine will work in our birds,” Sharpe said. “It’s why this program starting this week is so important. We need to roll it out carefully and cautiously.”

Taronga Conservation Society Australia started vaccinating birds this week, and has so far given the first dose to 70 animals across 18 species. The birds in the trial will remain in a controlled environment for 14 days after their second dose so they can be closely monitored.

Dr Karrie Rose, veterinary pathologist at Taronga Zoo, said the vaccination trial would measure the safety and efficacy of the vaccine across a broader range of species than had previously been tested. This would inform how frequently vaccination needed to occur in different species.

“We’re also not waiting for the basis of those trials,” Rose said. “We’re starting our operational vaccination of Taronga animals and then we’ll also be working with [National] Parks and Wildlife Service, to support their work in vaccinating free-ranging species,” Rose said.

Ingrid Emery, executive director conservation programs at the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, said it was “logistically complex” to vaccinate wild populations because you had to access sometimes remote locations and find the same bird 28 days later.

“That’s why we’re starting with the population of little penguins,” she said. “Little penguins are very faithful to where they nest. They’ll catch them between when they leave the water and when they enter their nest box, and then they will handle them and eventually provide them with the vaccination, and then 28 days later, or two, three to four weeks later, they will have to do the same procedure.”

Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said there had been 16 confirmed cases of H5N1 across the state so far, including one in the Illawarra, confirmed last night. So far in NSW, only birds have been infected, unlike in South Australia and Victoria, where there have been cases in mammals including seals and a red fox.

“We’re also asking people with backyard chickens and with pet birds to now have plans in place to protect those birds and to stop any risk of spread,” Moriarty said. “If you’ve got backyard chooks, we’re asking you to make sure that you keep their food clean and under shelter, keep their water clean and under shelter. Some people who are out in the regions might be using dam water for their backyard chooks. Please don’t do that for the moment. Use clean water. It’s about protecting them from the interaction with wild birds.”

Bird flu has not been detected in commercial poultry flocks or captive birds anywhere in Australia, and the risk to human health remains low.

Dr Joanne Coombe, the chief veterinary officer for NSW, said the vaccine was not licensed for mammals nor for poultry, only for rare and endangered species. There were ongoing conversations about vaccinating poultry but it might be a different vaccine, she said.

If you encounter a suspected sick bird or marine mammal, avoid contact, record what you see and report it immediately to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.

More than 5000 calls have been received by the hotline, which has been up and running since June at the State Coordination Centre in Orange.

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