Australia vows to restrict any H5N1 bird flu spread after confirming first case

Australia will do all it can to curb any spread of H5N1 bird flu, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Saturday, as the first mainland infection was confirmed in a seabird a day after being detected in a remote southwestern region.

Until now, Australia has been the only continent without a confirmed mainland case, although the virus was detected in late 2025 on the sub-Antarctic territory of Heard Island, about 4,100 km (2,550 miles) from continental Australia.

"This is concerning," Albanese told reporters in Sydney, adding that his centre-left government would do "whatever we can to restrict any spread".

Testing had confirmed the bird, found sick near Esperance, a town about 570 km (350 miles) southeast of Perth, the capital of Western Australia, had the deadly strain, the government said.

Human infections of the virus remain rare, although the highly pathogenic avian influenza has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds in the past few years, disrupting food supplies and driving up prices.

The virus had yet to show up in Australia's poultry or agriculture, however, said Agriculture Minister Julie Collins, though a giant petrel, another sick bird found in the same area, also tested positive.

"There's no evidence of any mass mortalities and there's no evidence that it's in our poultry or agriculture system at this stage," she added in televised remarks from the capital, Canberra.

In its efforts to tackle bird flu, Australia has tightened biosecurity measures at farms, testing shore birds for disease, vaccinating vulnerable species and war-gaming response plans.

On Friday, authorities had said the migratory brown ‌skua, found in Western Australia's Cape Le Grand National Park, tested positive for the disease and they were awaiting confirmation.

-Reporting by Sam McKeith; Editing by William Mallard and Clarence Fernandez/Reuters