Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on November 23 declared the government would do “everything possible” to prevent the spread of H5N1 bird flu, after the first mainland case was confirmed in a seabird. The development means the virus has now reached every continent.
Test results on November 22 confirmed that a migratory brown skua found in Cape Le Grand National Park, Western Australia, carried the deadly virus. A giant petrel was also found in the same area and is suspected of being infected.
“This is concerning,” Albanese told reporters in Sydney, adding that the government would do “everything possible to limit any spread.”
Australia had been the only continent without a mainland case, although the virus was detected in late 2025 on Heard Island, a sub-Antarctic territory about 4,100 kilometers from the mainland.
Agriculture Minister Julie Collins said the virus had not yet been detected in Australia’s poultry or farming sectors. “We all know we couldn't avoid bird flu forever,” she said.
Although human infections remain rare, highly pathogenic bird flu has led to the culling of hundreds of millions of birds globally in recent years, disrupting food supplies and pushing up prices.
