#19,284
On August 4th, the official count of H5 positive birds in Australia broke 100 (n=102), today that number stands at 215, with the backlog of uninvestigated bird deaths continuing to rise.
Detection of H5 bird flu
As of 3.00pm AEST, 8 August 2026, Australia has 215 confirmed detections of H5 bird flu in wild birds.
- 10 in Western Australia (WA)
- 147 in South Australia (SA)
- 4 in New South Wales (NSW)
- 1 in Queensland (QLD)
- 53 in Victoria (VIC).
We've two brief updates from DAFF:
8 August 2026
Attributable to Australian Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Beth Cookson:
Testing at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) has confirmed a further 2 positive detections in New South Wales, one greater crested tern near Narooma and one greater crested tern near Wentworth.
An additional 10 positive detections have also been confirmed in Victoria. These were all from greater crested terns in south-west Victoria and Clyde in south-east Melbourne.
There have now been 215 confirmed or presumed positive detections of H5 bird flu in Australia, based on samples tested.
There remain no detections in poultry or in our agricultural production system.
The risk to human health remains low.
8 August 2026
Attributable to Australian Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr Beth Cookson:
Testing at CSIRO’s Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) has confirmed a further 28 positive detections in South Australia.
The new confirmed cases are all in wild seabirds, including 15 greater crested terns from the Limestone Coast (5 at Robe, 4 at Port MacDonnell, 2 at Beachport, 1 at Southend, 1 at Pelican Point, 1 at Cape Douglas, and 1 at Eight Mile Creek); 11 greater crested terns on Kangaroo Island (3 at Haines, 6 at Seal Bay, 1 at Penneshaw, and 1 at Vivonne Bay); and 2 silver gulls on the Limestone Coast (Port MacDonnell and Robe).
There have now been 203 confirmed or presumed positive detections of H5 bird flu in Australia.
There remain no detections in poultry or in our agricultural production system.
The risk to human health remains low.
Thus far, no poultry, livestock, or marine mammals have been detected with the virus on the Australian mainland.
