Incident – H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza (H5 bird flu) in wild seabirds, Australia

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Aug, 4 2026 | High pathogenicity avian influenza (H5 Bird Flu)

Incident – H5N1 high pathogenicity avian influenza (H5 bird flu) in wild seabirds, Australia - ongoing

In June 2026, Australia confirmed its first detections of H5 high pathogenicity avian influenza (H5 bird flu) in wild seabirds. As of 4 August 2026, H5 bird flu has been confirmed* in 5 jurisdictions:

- Western Australia

- South Australia

- New South Wales

- Queensland

- Victoria

To date, all detections have been in wild seabirds - brown skua, giant petrels, greater crested terns and silver gulls.

Please see birdflu.gov.au for up-to-date numbers of detections in Australia.

In South Australia, a H5 bird flu mass mortality event involving greater crested terns has been confirmed on the southeast coast. Based on overseas experience, such mortality events in susceptible species are likely to occur as local transmission continues.

A national surveillance plan is in place to find and track ongoing detections. This includes monitoring of the situation and risk of impacts to species.

Detections remain limited to wild birds and there are no detections in poultry or our agricultural system.

Jurisdictional biosecurity agencies are leading the on-ground response and national coordination is being led by the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. All confirmatory testing for H5 bird flu is undertaken at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP).

AVOID. RECORD. REPORT.

Any unusual illness or death in wild birds should be reported via the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888.

For more information on these H5 bird flu events, see:

birdflu.gov.au
WA DPIRD - H5 avian influenza (H5 bird flu) for WA information
Government of SA - H5 bird flu for SA information
NSW DPIRD - H5N1 Avian influenza (H5 bird flu) for NSW information
Business Qld - Avian influenza alert for Qld information
Agriculture Victoria - H5N1 avian influenza for Vic information

See Australian reports to the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH) for more information: Event 7649

WHA information can be found on the WHA H5 Bird Flu resource centre, which provides information sheets, videos and toolkits for preparing, understanding and responding to H5 bird flu.

*Occasionally, test samples don’t contain enough viral material for ACDP to fully confirm the specific H5 strain. In these cases, authorities are taking a precautionary approach and treating these detections as ‘presumed positive’ based on the species involved, the circumstances of the detection and available evidence.

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