The 12th Australasian Shorebird Conference was held on 29th and 30th October 2022 and hosted jointly by the Australasian Wader Studies Group and the Queensland Wader Studies Group.
The online event encouraged broad participation from around Australia and across the East Asian – Australasian Flyway Partnership.
The theme for this Conference was “Global Strategies Local Actions” and WHA presented during the “Disease, Pollution and Disturbance Impacts” session a collaborative work with Marcel Klaassen (Centre for Integrative Ecology, Deakin University) and Michelle Wille (WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Sydney Institute for Infectious Diseases, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, and Department of Microbiology and Immunology, The University of Melbourne).
Since October 2021 there have been >3000 outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) in wild birds, globally. Currently outbreaks are occurring in North America, Eurasia and South Africa; this virus has not yet been detected in Australia, however the risk of introduction is increased given the dramatic increase in intensity, spatial distribution and host range since October 2021. In this presentation we discuss the current global situation of HPAI, including FAO-Empres (Food and Agriculture Organisation for the United Nations Global Animal Disease Information System) and WOAH (World Organisation for Animal Health) data to study the spatio-temporal patterns in HPAI incidents in wild birds. Finally, we outline future risk of HPAI, how the national surveillance system for avian influenza works, where to find more information and how to report outbreaks.
The presentation on Bird flu and the future risk to Australian wild birds can be watched here.