Incidents

The toolboxes are guidance documents focussing on prevention and preparedness for HPAI. 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 HPAI.

The advice in these documents is based on the increased risk to Australia from HPAI H5 2.3.4.4b. Other strains of HPAI 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.

• HPAI and wildlife in Australia - risk mitigation toolbox for wildlife managers (Apr 2024, v. 1.1)
  • WHA HPAI and wild animals in Australia - risk mitigation toolbox for wildlife managers Appendix 1 (risk mitigation checklist) (Apr 2024, v. 1.1)
  • WHA HPAI and wild animals in Australia - risk mitigation toolbox for wildlife managers Appendix 2 (spreadsheets for collating population information)

• HPAI and wildlife in Australia - risk mitigation toolbox for wildlife care providers (May 2024, v. 1.0) **NEW**
  • WHA HPAI and wild animals in Australia - risk mitigation toolbox for wildlife care providers Appendix 1 (risk mitigation checklist) (May 2024, v. 1.0) **NEW**
  • WHA HPAI and wild animals in Australia - risk mitigation toolbox for wildlife care providers Appendix 2 (spreadsheets for collating population information) (May 2024, v. 1.0)  **NEW**

• WHA Video - presentations from the Information Session on the HPAI Risk Mitigation Toolbox for Wildlife Care Providers (June 2024) **NEW** 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 outbreaks in poultry in Victoria, NSW and the ACT, see HPAI H7 in poultry, Vic, NSW and ACT - May & June 2024.

For more information on high pathogenicity avian influenza viruses in general, see the WHA incident information page High pathogenicity avian influenza information H5N1 global outbreak