The toolboxes are guidance documents focussing on prevention and preparedness for H5 HPAI (H5 bird flu). They are targeted to those who manage wildlife populations and those who provide care to wildlife in Australia, such as wildlife hospitals, rehabilitation centres, individual rehabilitators or veterinary clinics, although aspects will be relevant to other stakeholders that interact with wildlife. The strategies they describe are relevant to both wild birds and wild mammal populations that might be impacted by H5 bird flu.
The advice in these documents is based on the increased risk to Australia from HPAI H5 2.3.4.4b, the dominant strain circulating globally. Other strains have not caused such widespread disease in wild birds and mammals, but the general principles within these documents can be applied to preparedness and response to other HPAI strains, while also considering and adjusting for any known differences in epidemiology.
- WHA Video - presentations from the Information Session on the HPAI Risk Mitigation Toolbox for Wildlife Care Providers (June 2024). Includes:
- an update on HPAI in Australia and overseas (Simone Vitali)
- HPAI 2.3.4.4b and the Wildlife Rehabilitator Experience in the USA (Dr Victoria Hall, Director of The Raptor Centre at the University of Minnesota)
- orientation and guidance on the use of the risk mitigation toolbox (Simone Vitali)
For information on the HPAI H7 outbreak in poultry in Victoria, see HPAI H7 in poultry, Victoria - February 2025.
For more information on high pathogenicity avian influenza viruses in general, see the WHA High pathogenicity avian influenza H5N1 global outbreak incident information page H5N1 (H5 bird flu) global outbreak which provides links to information sheets, videos, and other resources.