While we are still awaiting results from the mass mortality event on Baudin rocks, CSIRO has confirmed 3 more South Australian birds positive for H5N1, and Victoria's total has jumped to 7.
These are just confirmed cases, and likely represent just a fraction of HPAIs spread throughout the nation. Due to the logistics of recovering bird carcasses, and limited testing capacity, the backlog of uninvestigated citizen reports on dead birds has grown well into the thousands.
As we discussed a little over 2 weeks ago, the number of daily reports were already far outpacing their ability to investigate and test carcasses.
Yesterday SA Chief Veterinary Officer Skye Fruean was quoted as saying:
"At some point in time and we're not there yet, we will stop testing in areas where we know it [bird flu] is well established … because there is nothing we can do to stop the spread, we don't need to continue testing in an area that we know it is present."
Since it is a weekend, reporting is sparse. But we do have the following update from https://www.agriculture.gov.au/campaigns/birdflu.
Detection of H5 bird flu
As of 5pm AEST, 2 August 2026, Australia has 62 confirmed detections of H5 bird flu in wild seabirds.
- 10 in Western Australia (WA)
- 42 in South Australia (SA)
- 2 in New South Wales (NSW)
- 1 in Queensland (QLD)
- 7 in Victoria (VIC).
This is the serious H5 bird flu strain that has been circulating globally.
There have been no detections in poultry or the wider agriculture industry. There is no evidence of any large scale deaths.
The Consultative Committee for Emergency Animal Disease (CCEAD) has reviewed its previous advice and endorsed a framework on national poultry biosecurity measures that will commence from 31 July. Under this framework, state and territory governments are responsible for issuing advice on biosecurity measures using a risk-based approach.
State and territory governments are responsible for surveillance and response activities on the ground. They are actively working with industry to provide guidance on implementation of enhanced biosecurity measures, as appropriate. Find out more about bird flu in your state or territory.
National coordination is being led by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF).
The risk to human health remains low.
Australia is well prepared to respond quickly.
