First suspected case of H5 bird flu found in Perth, sparks warning for pet owners

H5 bird flu has been detected for the first time in the Perth metropolitan area, in a migratory seabird found dead at a northern suburbs beach.

The discovery of the giant petrel between Mullalloo and Whitfords beaches has sparked a warning to Perth pet owners and a step-up in surveillance at city beaches.

The bird was reported on Tuesday through the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline with preliminary testing on the bird returning a positive result on Friday morning.

The samples will now be sent to Geelong for further testing by the CSIRO to confirm the case.

Food and Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis said that she was expecting results to be confirmed this weekend.

Fisheries officers have been asked to patrol Perth beaches as part of the department’s heightened surveillance effort, looking for any further signs of sick or deceased birds and wildlife.

If confirmed, the northern suburbs bird would be the sixth confirmed case in the country and fifth in WA.

It would also be the furthest north the disease has been detected, with four cases on Australia’s southern coast and a fifth detected at Quindalup in the South West.

Speaking about the first suspected case in WA’s capital, Ms Jarvis urged pet owners to be extra careful letting their pets roam. The Perth bird was found close to a popular off-leash dog beach in Hillarys, visited by hundreds of pets and their owners each day.

“All detections involve migratory seabirds that are known to occasionally visit southern Australia, there is no evidence of spread or large scale deaths in local wildlife or any detections in poultry,” she said.

“The community is encouraged, however, to keep pets away from wildlife, including preventing cats from roaming and keeping dogs on leads.”

The arrival of H5 avian influenza in Australia has also sparked action from Perth Zoo.

A spokesperson said the zoo was already at a heightened biosecurity alert level before the Perth bird discovery and would be introducing sanitation floormats at the entrance of some aviaries.

But any more drastic steps - such as closing enclosures - was unlikely unless there were signs the virus had spread to any local birds.

“We have well developed preparedness plans in place and have already taken proactive steps over recent months to further protect vulnerable zoo resident species, including modifications to some aviaries and habitats to reduce contact with wild birds,” they said.

“As an additional precaution, we will also be installing sanitisation mats at the entrances to selected aviaries over the coming days, similar to the biosecurity measures commonly seen at airports.

“At this stage, we consider these measures appropriate and proportionate to the assessed risk, and we will continue to review our response as further information becomes available and the situation evolves.”

Nearly 800 calls have now been made from WA to the Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) hotline since the first case confirmed on June 19.

Of these reports, 118 have been prioritised by DPIRD based on the risk of H5 bird flu for further investigation or testing, with 58 coming back with negative test results.

It comes the same day NSW recorded its first suspected case of the deadly strain, found in a sample of a giant petrel in Hawksnest, north of Newcastle.

The only other confirmed bird flu case outside of WA has been in South Australia.